Verstappen, Russell are setting the gloves aside, moving past 2024 fall-out

Fans of off-track intrigue may have hoped for another chapter to F1’s latest feud, but it appears Max Verstappenn and George Russell have now poured cold water over the incident — at least in public.

“Honestly, I have no intention to continue any kind of beef in February,” Verstappen shrugged at F1’s 75th anniversary launch in London. “I’m still enjoying my time away Formula 1 and just getting ready for the season, so I have honestly nothing to say about that subject.”

Russell also said he didn’t feel the need to clear the air. While he says he has moved on, he also suggested he would keep standing up to the Dutchman if needed. “We haven’t spoken, no concerns about him or his driving, or anything that’s happened last year, and I want to focus on myself,” Russell said.

“Obviously, things I felt got out of line at the end of last year and made it pretty clear that I’m not going to kind of take it. But now it’s 2025 and I’m focused on the job, and the job is to win. So, I’m not going to change my approach, fighting him, fighting any other drivers. The goal is the same.”

The pair was embroiled in a spectacular spat at 2024’s final two weekends in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, with Verstappen irate because he felt the Mercedes driving was trying to get him punished in the stewards’ office, with Verstappen indeed having to cede his Qatar pole to Russell for impeding. It led to a rant from Verstappen saying he had “lost all respect” for Russell, before the Briton snapped, going into an extraordinary rant in Abu Dhabi where he called the four-time world champion a bully.

One thing Verstappen and Russell can at least agree on going into the 2025 season is the FIA’s more stringent approach to swearing and other actions it feels are inappropriate, which can now land drivers hefty fines, points deductions and even race bans.

Earlier this week, Williams driver Carlos Sainz already said he felt the FIA should make a distinction between swearing inside and outside the car. And while the drivers’ association GPDA hasn’t had the opportunity yet to come up with a unified response, Verstappen – who was slapped with a community service penalty for swearing in a Singapore press conference last year – said most drivers were aligned on the subject.

“Well, I’m not going to speak for everyone, but I think everyone is quite on the same direction with that,” he said. “Of course, I understand that you cannot always swear everywhere you go, right? I think we all understand that as racing drivers, but sometimes in the heat at the moment, or when you get interviewed, when you’re in your car and you’ve just had an adrenaline rush, sometimes things slip out a little bit.

“We all grew up even at school or playing sports in general and it happens that you use a swear word, and I think we shouldn’t take it so seriously, you know? Plus, I’m also not going to tell you how you should behave in life.”

When asked if he had spoken to the clampdown’s instigator, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Verstappen replied: “No. But I don’t know. It’s a complicated matter, I would say. I always share my opinion. And as I say, now it’s just a bit much. It was not necessary to put it fully written down like that.

“I think it’s important that we can have a proper discussion about this, but we also need help from others, from teams, promoters, because we’re all in this together at the end of the day.”