Fresh details of tense Max Verstappen-George Russell feud emerge

Further details of the feud that occurred between Max Verstappen and George Russell have been revealed in a new book.

Writing his perspective in his new book Notes from the Pit Lane, Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz recalled how Russell aimed to get back at Verstappen after labelling the four-time champion a “bully”.

At the Qatar Grand Prix, Verstappen received a grid penalty after Russell took avoiding action during qualifying, describing the incident as “dangerous”.

Verstappen snapped back at Russell, stating after the race that he lost respect for the Mercedes driver for “how he tried to force a penalty on me”, suggesting Russell presented himself very differently when the cameras were not pointed at him.

The war of words carried over to the season finale in Abu Dhabi one week later, where Christian Horner and Toto Wolff also got involved.

Kravitz detailed that Russell approached him in the TV pen on Thursday at the Yas Marina Circuit and asked him to ensure he fleshed out the situation in the interview.

“A week after Qatar, when Russell arrived at the Abu Dhabi track, he was in no mood to let the Verstappen situation lie,” Kravitz wrote. 

“I’d spent the day interviewing drivers at the TV pen, but hadn’t yet heard any earth-shattering stories.

“A minute before his time slot, up strode George. He called me over to the edge of the pen – ‘make sure you ask me a follow-up question’.

“‘What do you mean?’ I asked. [He replied] ‘I’m going to give it back to Max. I’ve had enough of him bad-mouthing me in the press, and I’m going to call him out on his bullying tactics.

“I know you’re only supposed to ask me one question, but never mind that, I’m up for as many questions as you like’.

“Before checking to see if he was wearing a Drive to Survive microphone, I asked him if he was absolutely sure he wanted to escalate what was effectively last year’s story, and start a new fight with Max – never an easy battle to win. He said he was positive, and away he went.”

Tensions remained high during the weekend. At the end-of-season dinner between all drivers, Russell was the last to arrive, and there were two vacant seats left - both beside Verstappen.

Russell subsequently picked up one of the chairs and moved it beside then-team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The situation would cool off over the winter break before the current campaign got underway in March.