George Russell has reiterated that he will not be "bullied around" by F1 world champion Max Verstappen following their feud. After an incident in Qatar GP qualifying in 2024, Verstappen was stripped of pole position by the stewards, but still overtook Russell at Turn 1 to lead before a war of words broke out at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Russell accused Verstappen of promising to "put me on my fucking head in the wall" with team bosses Toto Wolff and Christian Horner also getting involved before things appeared to settle down. Russell has now stepped up to be Mercedes team leader, and has declared there is "no love lost" between the two. "I wasn't going to just stand and be bullied around," he told BBC Sport. "People seem to always back down to him. And that's just not how I go about my business.” Mercedes is looking to take a step forward this year, having struggled in the pecking order across the last handful of seasons. As he gears up for a potential title fight, Russell asserted he is not afraid to go wheel-to-wheel against Verstappen. "I'm not there to be best mates with a world champion,” he said. “I'm here to win. And that's his mentality as well. There's no love lost. "I've never been scared to race against Max. I've always put up a fight."
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