Max Verstappen has ‘lost all respect’ for George Russell and told the Brit to ‘f*** off’ in an explosive interview.

Verstappen secured pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix, but copped a one-placed grid penalty from FIA stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly during qualifying.

Russell, who was also on a slow lap during qualifying, almost ran into the back of Verstappen’s car and was forced to take evasive action by driving into the gravel.

Verstappen was also following the slow-paced Fernando Alonso, but the stewards ultimately deemed the Dutchman was at fault.

The Red Bull superstar was left irate at Russell’s conduct and, according to Sky Sports F1 correspondent Ted Kravitz, confronted the Brit prior to the race on Sunday.

“In the drivers’ parade holding room, Max then confronted George, still seething for his one-grid place drop, and said something along the lines of, ‘You and your FIA mates, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done,’” Kravitz said.

The penalty ultimately did not play much of a factor in the race as Verstappen eased past Russell and took the lead going into the first corner.

It was an advantage Verstappen never relinquished as he cruised home for his ninth victory over the year.

As for Russell, he crossed the finish line in fourth as Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri rounded out the podium having finished second and third respectively.

Despite his triumph, it was abundantly clear Verstappen had not forgotten about Russell’s actions and let rip in a post-race interview.

“I have a lot of respect for a lot of drivers, but after last night I completely lost that respect for him [Russell],” Verstappen told Viaplay.

“I just thought it was ridiculous how he tried to force a penalty on me. And I was heavily p***** at him for that.’”

“He always does it very nicely here in front of the camera, but then when you’re inside with him in person, it’s just a different person,” he added.

“I can’t stand that and it’s actually better for him to f*** off. I don’t want to get involved in this.”

Verstappen expanded on his interactions with Russell in the stewards room during his official press conference.

“It wasn’t very enjoyable to see that happen,” Verstappen stated.

“The thing is being nice, everything is more or less decided, I didn’t want to screw anyone over and by doing that, being nice, you get a penalty.

“That’s what I tried to explain, but it felt like talking to a brick wall.

“I spoke about valid reasons. I didn’t want to cause a scene into that last corner, very surprising. I was quite surprised with what was going on, very disappointing.

“And I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life with people I’ve raced – and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. I lost all respect.”

Verstappen had already been crowned as world champion last Sunday at the Las Vegas GP.

However, he won’t be able to record his highest-ever points haul in a single season as he sits on 429 points with only the Abu Dhabi GP remaining.

Should Verstappen win that, it would take him to 454 points, the figure he ended up with for the 2022 campaign.

His highest points tally remains 575, which he recorded last season after he won 19 out of the 22 races on the calendar.