George Russell’s spat with Max Verstappen has been reignited after he revealed his Mercedes team received abusive emails from the Dutchman’s supporters.

The rivalry started towards the end of last season and continued with a verbal tussle after the Qatar Grand Prix, only pausing when the campaign concluded. Russell claimed to have moved on from their feud ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season but couldn’t resist taking another dig at the Red Bull driver, whom he accused of bullying tactics.

“I’m not going to accept being pushed around and disrespected in that regard so openly and publicly,” he said (via the Daily Express). “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.”

Russell, 27, also mentioned that Mercedes staff had been targeted by irate F1 enthusiasts following his run-in with Verstappen. Even if he was shielded from it first-hand, the Briton was keenly aware of the narrative coming from opposing supporters.

“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,” he said. “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, 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.”

Tensions soared between Russell and Verstappen in November 2024 when accusations of bullying behaviour on the track surfaced. The situation intensified when Verstappen faced a grid penalty for impeding Russell during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

After the stewards’ intervention resulted in a sanction against him, Verstappen was quick to point fingers at Russell: “I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect.”

In retaliation, Russell alleged Verstappen had threatened to deliberately crash into him, although Verstappen disputed this claim. The Silver Arrows star further criticised Verstappen’s character, telling reporters: “People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can’t question his driving abilities. But he cannot deal with adversity whenever anything has gone against him.”

Verstappen has said he’s keen to leave any past tensions with Russell in the rear-view mirror and recently told the press: “Honestly, I have no intention to continue any kind of beef in February. I’m still enjoying my time actually away from Formula 1 and just getting ready for the season. So I have honestly nothing to say about that subject.”

F1 enthusiasts on social media have been quick to criticise Russell for reigniting the feud, with one user posting: “Can he move on? Good lord.” Another chimed in: “Winners win. Losers talk about winners.”

Meanwhile, a third remarked: “Silly from Russell. Showing it’s still affecting him even though he claims it isn’t. The guy needs to get a grip.” And a fourth fan added: “Just let it go, you are making yourself look worse.” While a fifth jibed: “Cry baby energy.”

Despite the heated moments at last year’s Qatar GP, Russell has confirmed he and Verstappen haven’t spoken since. However, he has maintained he’s unfazed about competing against the four-time world champion.

“That happened last year, and I want to focus on myself,” said the Brit. “Obviously, things I felt were outlined at the end of last year and I made it pretty clear that I’m not going to take it. But now it is 2025, and I am focused on the job. And the job is to win, so I’m not going to change my approach fighting him or fighting any other drivers. The goal is the same and yeah, I guess we’ll see when we get to Melbourne.”

The F1 season is set to kick off on March 16 with the Australian Grand Prix, before moving to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix the following week. Verstappen has his sights set on making history as he aims to become only the second driver in F1 history to clinch five consecutive world championships – something only Michael Schumacher has managed to date.

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