George Russell has spoken out on Max Verstappen and his comments following the Qatar GP.
Qatar Grand Prix took place on Sunday and it was all about chaos. Verstappen claimed a victory while Charles Leclerc finished second. And Oscar Piastri came third.
After Verstappen finished ahead of Lando Norris in Las Vegas Grand Prix, he became Formula One 2024 champion.
The four-time World Champion criticised the Mercedes driver for his role in him receiving a grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slow in the Qatar qualifying. As a result, Russell took the pole position.
After the Qatar GP, Verstappen shared his thoughts on Russell and claimed that he has 'lost all respect' for the Mercedes driver.
Responding to the comments of the Red Bull driver, Russell said: "I've known Max for 12 years and I've respected him all this time but now I've lost respect for him because we're all fighting on track and it's never personal.
"Now he's made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this. So far, people have let him get away with murder."
He added: "I find his comments pretty ironic when he comes out and says 'I'm going to purposely crash into you, I'm going to put you on your f****** head in the wall'.
"For me that is unacceptable and he's gone beyond the line here and I'm not going to accept it.
"So somebody's got to stand up to a guy like this before it gets out of control."
“Lewis stood up to him in 2021, and Lewis lost that championship unfairly," he added.
"Could you imagine the roles being reversed? I mean, [Michael] Masi would be fearing for his life.
“Lewis is a world champion who I aspire to be like, and I think he is a gold standard of a role model that younger kids should be looking up to.
“And the way Lewis dealt with that championship fight, he was hard, he was aggressive, he was always respectful, and he never went beyond the line.”
source - GBNews