George Russell ‘GAVE UP’ in Qatar Grand Prix tussle with Max Verstappen – after four-time world champion claimed he had ‘misplaced all respect’ for the Briton in ‘two-faced’ penalty attraction

George Russell was accused of ‘giving up’ during the turbulent Qatar Grand Prix that saw him miss out on a first-place finish to four-time world champion Max Verstappen. 

The Briton started the race from pole position, but was quickly overturned by Verstappen, sitting second on the grid, who powered past his rival within minutes of the race starting. 

But Verstappen might not have had to work so hard had he not fallen foul of race regulations and been demoted from pole, the position he had claimed in qualifying. 

The Dutch superstar was penalised one grid position after he was deemed to have driven too slowly in qualifying, with Russell having to take action to avoid him. 

Incensed by the decision, Verstappen went on a tear, commenting on Sunday that the Mercedes driver was a ‘completely different person’ in front of the stewards versus being ‘very nice’ in front of the cameras. 

The Red Bull driver added that he had ‘never seen anyone trying to screw someone over that hard’ and that Russell’s actions with the stewards had made him ‘lose all respect’ for his fellow driver. 

George Russell has been accused of having a weakened mentality after coming fourth in Qatar

Max Verstappen was the eventual winner but started from second place after being penalised

The four-time world champion placed some of the blame at the feet of Russell, who had criticised his qualifying pace over the radio and to stewards

Russell finished fourth, and said after the race that he had ‘been expecting a crash’ with the furious competitor, based on Verstappen’s aggression after the incident. 

But former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya suggested that it was Russell, rather than the world champion, who had to worry about where his head was at during the race. 

‘Verstappen drives them crazy,’ Montoya told Vision4Sport who offer a complete and bespoke service for the most iconic F1 events in the calendar. ‘First of all, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes or any. And secondly, he’s comfortable crashing, and the team is happy if he crashes.

‘If you look at turn one, the start after what happened with the stewards, as soon as Max got the jump, George wasn’t going to try to steer around the outside because he thought they would collide. 

‘George said it, I thought we were going to crash. So, in his mind, as soon as the lights went, George gave up. He said to himself, “I can’t do this.”‘ 

Russell goes into the final race of this season this week in Abu Dhabi sixth in the standings, having claimed victories at the Austrian Grand Prix and last month’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. 

The 26-year-old is one place ahead of his team-mate, outgoing Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton in seventh, after consistently outqualifying his team-mate over the course of this season. 

Russell will next face the seven-time world champion in different colours, with his compatriot’s much anticipated move to Ferrari taking place ahead of next season.