George Russell and Max Verstappen argue in Qatar. (Image: Getty)
Former F1 driver Pastor Maldonado is clearly on the side of in his explosive feud with . The fallout between the pair has dominated the build-up to this weekend’s season-ending , following their spat in Qatar last week.
The saga began during qualifying after the pair tangled on Turn 12, forcing the man into the gravel.
Russell successfully argued that his rival had slowed down unnecessarily despite maintaining a ‘racing line’, with Verstappen .
That decision came after both drivers had been summoned to the stewards’ room, with Russell later claiming that Verstappen swore upon hearing the verdict. of pledging to “purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and put me on my head in the wall.”
The , telling Dutch publication De Telegraf that Russell was “a backstabber” and “a loser.” He added: “He lies and pastes all kinds of things together that aren’t true.”
Ahead of Friday’s FP1 at the Yas Marina, Russell responded to the verbal attack. And the 26-year-old took a dig of his own by implying current team-mate carried himself in a better manner than Verstappen.
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Pastor Maldonado has had his say on George Russell. (Image: Getty)
“I don’t know why he felt the need for this personal attack and I’m not going to take it,” he said. “This is me just setting the record straight, I am not going to stand here and let someone slam me personally.
“He’s a four-time champion. Lewis is the champion I aspire to be, hard but fair, never beyond the line. We have a duty as drivers. For a world champion to come out and say he is going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put him on his head, that is not the example we should be setting.”
Maldonado though, who drove for and Lotus in his 96-race career, clearly isn’t convinced. He responded to social media footage of Russell’s interview in Abu Dhabi with a cockerel emoji, leaving fans in little doubt as to what he truly meant.
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Both Russell and Verstappen may have been better served focusing on their driving as opposed to each other on Friday though. The pair struggled in practice, which was topped by ’s .
The British driver was only 13th quickest, while Verstappen laboured to 17th place. Both were slower than parters Hamilton and , who were with and 14th respectively.