Le Mans winner declares George Russell to get ‘a** kicked’ by Max Verstappen after war of words
Racing icon Gijs van Lennep warned George Russell over getting in trouble with Max Verstappen after a fallout last season.
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George Russell and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
George Russell and Max Verstappen went through a massive war of words during the latter half of the 2024 season. Russell’s alleged ‘snitching’ to the FIA stewards to cause Verstappen a penalty at the Qatar GP started the whirlwind of issues. Both drivers have likely made up with one another after the problems as Le Mans winner and Ex-F1 driver Gijs van Lennep put forth his opinion on the matter.
Max Verstappen had berated George Russell for being ‘two-faced’ while the latter talked about Verstappen’s aggressive driving. The issues went on for multiple weeks as they now seemed to die down. Gijs van Lennep claimed that Russell was the ‘biggest crook’ despite looking like a nice guy in front of the camera.
Look at [George] Russell. You think, ‘that’s a nice guy, beardless, a neat guy,’ but meanwhile, behind everyone’s back, that’s the biggest crook of all time.
Gijs van Lennep told Ziggo Sport
Van Lennep noted that Russell acted nicely in public settings while he made people believe Verstappen didn’t do so. The Dutchman believed that the people must ‘tackle’ the 26-year-old at some point due to his characteristics. Regardless, the 82-year-old iterated that the Briton would get his ‘a**e kicked’ by the reigning world champion if it ever came to that.
He [Russell] behaves so nicely and thinks he is doing everything right and Max Verstappen is not, That’s the kind of guy I think they should tackle at some point. But he will get his a**e kicked, you know.
Gijs van Lennep added
Russell handed ‘a**e kicked’ warning amid brutal criticism:
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) February 9, 2025
— Two-time Le Mans winner and former F1 driver Gijs van Lennep has launched a scathing attack on George Russell, claiming the Mercedes driver will get his “a**e kicked” and should be shown a “yellow card” for his… pic.twitter.com/9NwncHkufH
Gijs van Lennep asserts F1 drivers shouldn’t ‘slander each other’
Max Verstappen also faced issues with McLaren’s Lando Norris due to the close competition between the two. The two drivers similarly had a small back-and-forth regarding the on-track antics of the Dutchman. In the wake of these issues, Gijs van Lennep asserted that the issues were ‘difficult’ to solve. However, the 82-year-old believed that the drivers needn’t slander each other for issues caused during races.
It’s a difficult problem, If it were up to me they can say anything, they just shouldn’t slander each other.
Gijs van Lennep noted
The 2025 season of Formula 1 is set to be highly exciting as multiple teams and drivers look promising for championship contention. Red Bull must find a major improvement in performance in order to lead the pack. Verstappen will have to work hard to maintain his championship-winning performances if Milton Keynes fails to create a powerful chassis.
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Aditya Pandya
(1518 Articles Published)