19/02/2025
NEWS STORY
George Russell dismisses talk of 2024 feud with four-time world champion Max Verstappen continuing.
At a time of increasing tension between the Dutchman and Lando Norris, an incident during qualifying in Qatar saw the four-time world champion hit out at George Russell.
Verstappen subsequently claimed he had lost all respect for Russell, while the Briton accused the Red Bull driver of intimidation and bullying, even suggesting that the Dutchman had threatened to crash into him at the start of the race, a claim backed up (as ever) by his team boss, Toto Wolff.
However, speaking ahead of today's F1 event in London, Russell played down talk of bad blood between the pair.
"I haven't spoken to him," he told reporters, "but there's no concerns about him or his driving or anything. "That happened last year," he added, "and I want to focus on myself.
"Obviously things, I felt, got out of line at the end of last year and I made it pretty clear that I'm not going to take it," he continued.
"But now it's 2025 and I'm focused on the job and the job is to win," said the Briton, who, following the departure of Lewis Hamilton, becomes team leader. "So I'm not going to change my approach, fighting him, fighting any other drivers.
"The goal is the same," he insisted, "and I guess we'll see when we get to Melbourne."