Russell stands firm on Verstappen stance: 'I'm not going to accept it'

George Russell has doubled-down on his explosive comments about Max Verstappen towards the end of the 2024 F1 season.

The 27-year-old did not hold back in his opinion of the Dutchman's conduct - on and off track - at the time and has reiterated his criticism of how the four-time F1 drivers' champion races ahead of the new season.

Russell maintains he will not "accept being pushed around and disrespected" in such a manner, in reference to comments Verstappen made in the media after their incident during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix and subsequent trip to the FIA stewards' office.

The Red Bull driver painted the picture of Russell being two-faced, and the Briton felt it was time for someone to stand up to the 63-time grand prix winner, which he did not believe had been done up to then.

It set up a heated showdown heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where the feud between the pair continued on media day.

Whilst the hostilities subsided as the weekend progressed, Russell has made his stance clear prior to F1 returning from its winter break.

"I am entering my seventh year of F1 now and you do start to recognise where you are," he told Autosport. "You realise your own voice and the platform you have and the impact you can make.

"I thought it was important for myself, because I'm not going to accept being pushed around and disrespected in that regard so openly and publicly.

"That was the main driving force behind it. I've seen many people in life push and shove people around to get what they want. You need somebody to stand up to individuals like that - and nobody has done that whatsoever."

Russell: Verstappen has been 'sort of bullying' other F1 drivers

Russell shared his feelings towards the drivers' championship fight last term, which Verstappen controlled throughout, despite the diminishing powers of his Red Bull team.

The British driver expressed his frustration with how it unfolded at the sharp end, labelling the Dutchman's approach to wheel-to-wheel racing "sort of bullying", which he believes went unchecked.

"I was a bit frustrated watching the season play out at the front last year," he said. "How Max was driving with regard to being harder and sort of bullying others around, showing his aggression in a manner that nobody stood up to."

Russell added that only his newly-departed Mercedes team-mate has challenged Verstappen, something that helped produce one of the greatest F1 seasons of all time.

"The only driver was Lewis [Hamilton]; he was the only person to do that in ’21 and that was obviously such a great season," he stated before turning his attention back to Lando Norris' almost-title fight and how what happened in Qatar was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I was frustrated watching the sport last year, when there should have been such a great title battle, and it was not, so those comments in Qatar tipped me over the edge," Russell explained.

"I just thought of everything that had happened, from the on-track driving antics to where he was talking off track. It wasn't acceptable and something needed to be done."