George Russell has revealed members of his team received emails from Dutch F1 fans in the midst of his feud with Max Verstappen late last season. The British driver said he was aware of a "lot of criticism out there" at the time, suggesting the emails were abusive in tone. Tensions between the two reached an apex in the run-up to the year-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after the pair almost clashed on track - and seemingly clashed off it - at the penultimate round in Qatar. After a qualifying near miss at the Lusail International Circuit, Verstappen was aggrieved by Russell's supposed conduct in the FIA stewards' office and the Mercedes driver made accusations of aggressive behaviour from the Dutchman as well. That set up a heated final media day of the campaign, with their respective team principals, Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, also getting involved. Now, ahead of the new season getting underway, Russell has shared the extent of the backlash he received for the ill-tempered episode. "I have got to be honest," the 27-year-old told Autosport . "I didn't see any of it myself, but I do know there was a lot of criticism out there. "I know members of my team were receiving emails from Dutch fans. But I think that's a part of sport and life, really, isn't it."
Russell: Reading criticism can have an 'emotional impact'
Russell explained he avoids being exposed to outside noise, arguing that even if you can see the funny side to abusive comments or criticism, it still leaves it mark. Further still, the three-time grand prix winner chooses not to engage with positive comments either, questioning what benefit doing so would have. "That's something we accept," he added. "And you can choose to read it and let it have an emotional impact on you, even if you laugh at the comments, that has an impact on you. "So I just have this view and mentality that even with the positive comments, does it actually make me drive faster? Probably not, and there are more negative than positive most of the time, so I do really try and avoid it."
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