‘No love lost’ between George Russell and Max Verstappen as last season’s feud rumbles on

The dispute between four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell shows no sign of abating as the new season gets underway.

The pair memorably clashed after the Qatar Grand Prix last season, when Verstappen, the eventual winner, was penalised for impeding the Brit.

Russell claimed that afterwards Verstappen threatened to "purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and 'put me on my head in the wall'", while his Dutch counterpart said he had “lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver.

Since then the dispute has continued to rumble on, with Russell continuing to stand his ground in an interview with BBC Sport earlier this week.

"I wasn't going to just stand and be bullied around,” he explained of the situation. “People seem to always back down to him. And that's just not how I go about my business.

"I'm not there to be best mates with a world champion. I'm here to win, and that's his mentality as well. There's no love lost.

"I've never been scared to race against Max. I've always put up a fight."

Their public falling-out has an extra dimension to it, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff openly courting Verstappen last year and with the Dutchman still a possible candidate to join the team in the future.

Russell denied that this was a concern for him, adding, "I don't think there's any pressure whatsoever… it's not even something I'm thinking about, because I 100% back myself.”

Russell will lead the line for Mercedes this season after the departure of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari.

Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who at 18 years old is the third-youngest driver in Formula 1 history, is Russell’s new team-mate.

The season gets underway this week at the Australian Grand Prix, with the opening race of the season in Melbourne on Sunday 16 March.