Russell added: “I knew that was a spur of the second factor, however the subsequent day, we had been joking round a bit with (Sergio) Perez and Carlos (Sainz), I noticed it in his eyes that he meant it.
“He is a four-time champion. Lewis (Hamilton) is the champion I aspire to be – arduous however honest; by no means past the road. We’ve an obligation as drivers.
“For a world champion to come back out and say he’s going to exit of his approach to crash into somebody and put him on his head, that isn’t the instance we must be setting.”
In Qatar qualifying, the 2 drivers tangled at Flip 12, forcing Russell on to the gravel.
Verstappen was penalised for driving unnecessarily slowly and located to have been “effectively outdoors” the goal time required of drivers when not on a flying lap.
The stewards sided with Russell’s argument that Verstappen mustn’t have been on the racing line if he was going slowly.
Afterwards, Verstappen stated he “by no means anticipated somebody to essentially attempt to actively get somebody a penalty that badly and mendacity about why I used to be doing what I used to be doing”.
On Thursday, Russell stated he had not got down to get Verstappen a penalty.
“There’s nothing to lie about,” Russell added. “He was going too gradual, he was on the racing line and within the high-speed nook. I wasn’t making an attempt to get him a penalty. I used to be simply making an attempt to arrange my lap and also you combat arduous on monitor and within the stewards.
“The identical method as Max the very subsequent day requested his group to look at Lando (Norris’) penalty on the yellow flag. That is not private. That is racing.”
Russell added: “I do not know why this subject has acquired him so offended. He can not cope with adversity. I’m not questioning his means one bit. However the second he doesn’t have the quickest automobile, Budapest, he crashes into Lewis, slams his entire group and loses the plot.”
Russell stated “individuals have been bullied by Max for years now”, and added: “He is been enabled as a result of no one’s stood as much as him.
“Lewis stood as much as him in ’21 and lost that championship unfairly. Are you able to think about the roles being reversed and Max shedding that championship in the way in which Lewis misplaced it? (Then race director Michael) Masi could be fearing for his life.”
He added: “I am not in search of any repercussion from this, I’m standing up for myself to a man who’s questioning my repute and slamming me in the media.”
In an uncommon step, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff attended Russell’s information convention and criticised Crimson Bull group principal Christian Horner for calling Russell “hysterical”, saying this “crossed a line”.
Wolff stated: “Why does he really feel entitled to remark about my driver? When you’re fascinated with it, yapping little terrier, all the time one thing to say.
“His forte is just not mental psychoanalysis, however that is fairly a phrase. How dare you touch upon the mind-set of my driver.”
Verstappen stated on Thursday that he had “no regrets” about his feedback in Qatar.
“I meant all the pieces I stated,” Verstappen stated. “And it is nonetheless the identical. If I needed to do it once more, possibly I might’ve stated much more, figuring out the end result of the race outcomes. I nonetheless cannot consider that somebody might be like that within the stewards’ room.
“For me, that was so unacceptable as a result of, I imply, we’re all racing drivers, all of us have a number of respect for one another, we even play sports activities collectively, you understand, you journey collectively, and naturally, you’ve moments the place you get collectively, you crash, you are not pleased.
“In my entire profession, I’ve by no means skilled what I’ve skilled within the stewards’ room in Qatar. And for me, that was actually unacceptable.”
