George Russell received abusive emails from Dutch fans after fallout with Max Verstappen
George Russell revealed the negative impact following the war of words with Max Verstappen in the 2024 season.
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George Russell and Max Verstappen's verbal altercation (via IMAGO)
George Russell and Max Verstappen went through an infamous war of words during the final races of the 2024 season. Russell’s “snitching” Verstappen to the FIA stewards at the Qatar GP, causing the rescinding of the Red Bull drivers’ pole position started the whole saga. Despite the situation seemingly at ease now, the Briton revealed that he received abusive emails from the Dutch fans.
Max Verstappen‘s comments calling out George Russell for his ‘two-faced’ behavior caused a chain reaction of hatred towards the latter. Verstappen silenced the critics after winning the 2024 Qatar GP and provided a great response to Russell. This still wasn’t enough to stop the hate from being hurled towards the Englishman.
Russell shared the extent of the hatred he received following the tussle. The Briton clarified that he personally did not see the threats from the Dutchmen. However, the 26-year-old insisted that many of the Mercedes crew members received threatening mail. The Mercedes lead driver dismissed the situation as an unavoidable aspect of racing at the pinnacle of motorsport.
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. 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.
George Russell told Autosport.
George Russell reveals the ‘impact’ of negative comments
George Russell has been subjected to online hate in the past as well due to him outscoring Lewis Hamilton. Russell developed a resilient mindset towards such comments and didn’t let it affect him further.
The 26-year-old highlighted that despite laughing at the hate comments, it still had an impact on him. As a result, the Briton avoided such comments as it did not help him towards improving performances on the grid.
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, so I do really try and avoid it.
George Russell noted
Russell showcased a great performance in the 2024 season, especially against Hamilton. The 26-year-old aims to improve on his pace and contend for the championship in the coming season. However, Mercedes still has significant work to do before realistically challenging for both titles.
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Aditya Pandya
(1552 Articles Published)