George Russell claims fans of Max Verstappen sent members of his team emails and “a lot of criticism” after their heated public spat towards the end of 2024.

The two drivers fell out after a meeting with the stewards in Qatar which resulted in a rare one-place grid penalty for the Red Bull driver, after which Verstappen claimed he “lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver, which then sparked a public back-and-forth between the two.

Russell: Max Verstappen fans sent team emails in wake of Qatar fallout

Russell and Verstappen duly started on the front row together in Qatar, with the Red Bull driver retaking the lead he lost through his penalty into the first corner – though Russell had claimed he was told Verstappen would “put me on my f***ing head in the wall”, after believing the Mercedes driver looked to try and get him penalised in front of the stewards.

Their argument carried over into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, too, with Liam Lawson recounting an anecdote whereby Verstappen jokingly saved a seat next to him at the end-of-season all-driver dinner, but Russell refused to sit alongside the reigning World Champion.

The Dutchman had dubbed Russell a “bully” and a “loser” in response to the Qatar weekend, but said after the season they had spoken and would be “fine” heading into the 2025 season.

In the heat of the moment, however, Russell revealed some of Verstappen’s fans got in touch with not just him, but members of his team as well – though he does his best to stay away from reading what is in the public domain.

“I have got to be honest. I didn’t see any of it myself, but I do know there was a lot of criticism out there,” Russell told Autosport magazine.

“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? That’s something we accept. And you can choose to read it and let it have an emotional impact on you – even if you laugh at the comments, then 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.”

Russell was vocal in his criticism of Verstappen’s driving last season, and doubled down on that assessment in believing the only person to “stand up” to the Red Bull driver was Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 season.

As a result, he admitted the fallout from Qatar “tipped me over the edge” in that regard.

“I am entering my seventh year of F1 now and you do start to recognise where you are,” Russell said.

“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.

“I was a bit frustrated watching the season play out at the front last year, 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.

“The only driver was Lewis; he was the only person to do that in 2021 and that was obviously such a great season.

“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.

“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.”