P1racenews AI automatic summary:
George Russell has revealed how members of the Mercedes team received emails from Dutch F1 fans amidst his feud with Max Verstappen.
The 2024 Qatar Grand Prix qualifying incident between Verstappen and Russell sparked a heated squabble at the end of the season, stemming from Verstappen’s penalization for a near miss that cost him pole position. Russell defended himself against the Red Bull driver’s accusations, leading to involvement from Team Principals Toto Wolff and Christian Horner. Although tensions have since eased, the possibility of the dispute carrying over into 2025 was raised with the F1 75 live event. Russell acknowledged that the feud had gone too far and pledged to put an end to the conflict with the reigning World Champion. The humorous touch was added by Jack Whitehall during the live event when joking about the ongoing grudge between the two drivers. Russell reflected on the backlash faced by his team following the dispute and emphasized the emotional impact of external opinions on him as an F1 driver, while Verstappen nonchalantly responded to Russell’s comments. Looking ahead to 2025, Russell leads Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, with Formula 2 graduate Andrea Kimi Antonelli joining as one of the new season’s six rookies.
