George Russell has found himself in embroiled in a fiery rivalry with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
It all came to a head following an on-track incident during qualifying at Qatar with Verstappen demoted a place for driving ‘unnecessarily slowly’.
The Dutch superstar would go on to win a tumultuous race overtaking Russell in the process, leading Verstappen to claim his opponent ‘gave up’ in the fight to win the race.
Both drivers were called to the stewards following the qualifying incident and that led Verstappen to claim that the Mercedes driver was a ‘completely different person’ in front of the stewards.
Adding that he had ‘never seen anyone trying to secrew someone over that hard’ and he had lost all respect for his fellow driver.
It seems that the feelings were reciprocal as Russell accused his counterpart of being a ‘bully’ adding: ‘I find it all quite ironic considering Saturday night he said he’d purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, “Put me on my f***ing head in the wall”.
George Russell was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk before moving to Milton Keynes at 18 to be closer to his junior team
The 26-year-old has endured a turbulent time with Mercedes as the constructor continues to struggle with the new regulations
Russell and Max Verstappen have been embroiled in a war of words following a clash at the Qatar Grand Prix
With the spotlight now firmly on the British drive now more than ever, Mail Sport has everything you need to know about the Mercedes driver
Where is George Russell from?
George Russell was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk and is the youngest of three siblings.
He took up karting at the age of seven, catching the racing bug from his brother Benjy, who was a competitive karter in his own right.
Russell picked up his number 63 from the kart his brother rented at the time.
At 18 Russell made the move to Milton Keynes in order to be closer to his junior racing team at the time.
Who has George Russell driven for in F1?
George Russell began his Formula 1 career with Williams as a member of the Mercedes Junior Program
After three years with the team he was signed to Mercedes replacing Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton’s new team mate
George Russell was signed to the Mercedes Junior Team in early 2017 after spending the previous year as a Mercedes simulator driver.
He managed to impress team principal Toto Wolff with a powerpoint presentation on why he should be signed to the Silver Arrows.
After two years in the Mercedes Program a deal was struck for Russell to drive for customer team Williams Racing where he partnered Robert Kubica.
He would impress during his three years with Williams and in 2020 he even filled in for Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix finishing ninth following a puncture that derailed his bid for a maiden win.
Russell would eventually sign for Mercedes in 2022 replacing Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton’s team mate.
The 26-year-old has remained at the team since and has seemingly become the number once driver with the constructor following the news that Lewis Hamilton would be joining Ferrari prior to the 2024 campaign.
How many races has George Russell won?
The British racing star picked up his third career win at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
George Russell has had mixed results since joining up with Mercedes – partly due to the constructors struggles with the current regulation changes.
The British star has managed to pick up five pole positions since joining the Silver Arrows, most recently at the Qatar Grand Prix due to the penalty handed to Max Verstappen.
He has also gone on to win three Grand Prixes on the way to 15 total podium finishes in his career.
Who is George Russell’s girlfriend?
Carmen Montero Mundt and George Russell have been dating since 2020 and have since moved to Monaco together
Carmen Montero Mundt, 27, grew up in Andalucia, Spain, and supported herself financially while at the University of Westminster, gaining a degree in business management and finance, then worked at a City investment firm.
Now an influencer with half a million followers – not to mention deals with fashion brands Dior and Tommy Hilfiger, plus hotel chain the Ritz-Carlton – she focuses on financial advice for women, with an e-book to her name titled Female Invest.
They have been dating since 2020 and the couple now live together in Monaco.
Have Max Verstappen and George Russell clashed before?
Contact during the 2023 Baku sprint race saw the pair clash after Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was left with a gaping hole in the side pod
The two were seen in a heated discussion following the on-track contact that ended with Max Verstappen levelling an insulting at his fellow driver
In short, yes. The two have been involved in a number of scraps during races since Russell’s arrival at Mercedes.
Though it is worth noting that while tension has bubbled between the two, it has never reached the levels of what we have seen since the Qatar Grand Prix.
They first clashed during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race, when the two collided on the streets of Baku.
On the opening lap Russell sitting in fourth launched an aggressive move up the inside of turn two only to make contact with the Dutch driver.
That left Verstappen incensed and with a huge hole in the sidepod of his Red Bull.
After the race the pair had a heated discussion, Russell telling his rival that it ‘wasn’t on purpose’ citing a lack of grip.
Verstappen responded by telling the British driver ‘mate we all have no grip’ before calling him a ‘d******d’ as Russell walked away.
Following hat incident, the 26-year-old Mercedes star claimed Verstappen ‘spat his dummy out’ and branded the argument ‘pathetic.’
It would appear that the bad blood between the two has lived under the surface since that incident with it all coming to ahead in the wake of the Qatar Grand Prix.
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