Russell "not changing mindset" after feud with Verstappen: "In race mode"
George Russell says he is "not changing his mindset whatsoever" after he and Max Verstappen exchange some harsh words about each other, with the Brit now saying he is in "race mode". In the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, both drivers have had fierce things to say about each other after their incident at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Last weekend, Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty due to driving slowly and dangerously behind Russell. According to the Red Bull Racing driver, the behaviour in the stewards' room from the Mercedes driver was very poor, and he has "lost all respect" regarding Russell. He doubled down on his comments in the Yas Marina paddock, saying the Brit "stabs you in the back" to members of the Dutch press.
Russell then had lots of comments himself as he fired back towards the Dutchman, alongside his team principal Toto Wolff, condemning the behaviour that has been seen from Verstappen throughout his time on the grid.
Russell believes Verstappen has "gone too far"
When asked if he would change anything after this feud with Verstappen, Russell disagreed point blank: "I'm not changing my mindset whatsoever. In Qatar, I didn't change my mindset whatsoever. The start was pretty tame in Qatar. We both made good starts, he just got ahead and I was expecting a little bit more but we have to see better. As I said, I'm not losing any sleep over it.
"I never, as I said, had the intention of coming out and speaking to you like this but he's gone too far now with his personal attack and now I'm returning the favour and putting the truth out there. So as of tonight, for me, this is put to bed and it's in race mode and I'll focus on the weekend," continued the Mercedes driver.
But will Russell go out of his way to find Verstappen in person, away from the media? "I don't need to talk to him. I don't need to talk to him at all. There's nothing for me to say," he bluntly concluded.
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Russell(The 3 time winner only) is Jealous of Max.....He tried some revenge on Max and it didn't work....
Will we see a Schumacher-Hill or Prost-Senna or perhaps Schumacher-Villeneuve showdown at AB? He has achieved all that needs to be done this year and there is nothing more for Max to aim for this season, so he might just have some 'fun' and mess with his competitor to prove a point.
This guy George is what Max needed to keep in the top motivation mode. Last year, after that infamous Baku crash, Max won all the races but Singapore. And you can be just laughing at George's results ?
Little man Russell showing his envy. Should stick to time trials.
The guy accused of being 2faced and making stuff up reacts by being 2faced and making stuff up.
Yeah I'm afraid argumentation is not Russell's strongest sides. He came up with examples, trying to make Verstappen and his fans look bad, but described everything that has already happened, but with Hamilton fans.
This is his off-track equivalent to "he just turned into me" when he was the one running into others.
The thing that bothers me though is the stewards apparently are going with that made up stuff and don't seem to have the brain capacity to distinguish the difference between some made up danger that's inflicted by a driver itself and a genuine dangerous situation. That Alonso 20s penalty in Melbourne for example was roughly the same thing. George binned it without being on the gearbox of Alonso, yet he somehow twisted it into a fault of Alonso.
It creates a precedent, something that both Max and Alonso spoke about. So it will either show inconsistency or buas when it happens again and there is no penalty, or it will cause people to intentionally screw others because it is penilizable. Either way the stewards messed up big time with this as they did how many times during the year.
I've seen Russell tactics before from other drivers as well. Trying to make opponents to look like villains and bad guys, same time posing themselves as really good guys and victims. Like 21 Monza Hamilton trying to get back on track and later telling that he expected Verstappen to come check on him. Yeah really good idea to go stand next to car, that still tries to get on to track. I think it was attempt to make Verstappen look like a cold blooded villain who doesn't care about nothing. And ultimately it also influences the stewards opinions to a greater or lesser extent. We constantly see some drivers getting penalties easier than others. If you tell the lie too many times, people start to believe it. With Russell comments most important is, that he talks a lot, but it's empty words. Like bringing up Abu Dhabi 21, that has absolutely nothing to do with anything that is going on at the moment. He actually had nothing factual to say against Verstappen, just stories that he made up and this says it all basically.
GET IN THERE GEORGE, absolutely brilliant mindset and just the mindset needed to take it to him, fight fire with fire as they say. Merc better give GR and Kimi a car good enough to fight week in week out next year, we need this rivalry to continue !
Trouble is he's fighting with words. On track, not so much. Another one who should stick to time trials, along with Norris.
Allegedly from an interview VER gave to the telegraaf. Perhaps dutch people in here can confirm that? “yes, but george is a bully. that he brings up all these kinds of things. he is just a loser. he lies and sticks all kinds of things together that are not correct. i only gave my opinion about his behaviour to the stewards. he clearly does not appreciate that. what he said about 2021, that is also what happened to the stewards. he insinuates a lot of things that do not make sense."
I never understood why it's so hard to believe what George said, but easy to believe what Verstappen is saying. Sometimes it's good to approach these things with an open mind rather than being one sided
Maybe because RUS didn't deny what VER said but everyone can see what RUS did in Qatar? On top of that, RUS bringing up 2021 shows that he has no arguments but is instead bullying? The point is that with VER you always know what to expect. He's not shy to say what he thinks. With RUS it is a different story.
Bringing up 2021 was valid. He was making the point that Verstappen been bullying drivers for a long time, so to go back and bring up actual evidence was relevant. He also mentioned races from this season to so don't omit that
33-4xLegend if you really think about it, every argument is about what happened in the past
I guess your other half always wins the argument by bringing up stuff you did in the past? Just asking
2021 is not valid. For several reasons. 1) It has nothing to do with what happened in Qatar. 2) Regarding the fierce championship battle in that year, there's two for tango. 3) RUS should have a look in the mirror regarding 2021 -> Imola. 4) RUS has never been in a fierce championship battle himself. But looking at how he acts not even being involved in such a battle, I wonder how he will be if this will be the case one day. Intern never forgets. This will go boomerang and hit you hard. "Verstappen been bullying drivers for a long time" For example?
Russell talking load of bs and twisting things he a big scum with it all he one big lies sticking diffrent things to gether .he 2 face in press pen then behind seen a rat think lot drivers will just trash him in 2025
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