Russtappen

Russtappen
GENERAL
Formula 1
Person 1	George Russell
Person 2	Max Verstappen
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Rivals
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash
Also Known As	Gax, Kimi's parents
Tropes	• Enemies to Lovers • Rivals

❝

And that for me… I lost all respect.

—Max about George, after Qatar 2024

Russtappen is the slash ship between drivers Max Verstappen and George Russell from the Formula 1 fandom.

Canon

Due to the fact that Verstappen (born 1997) and Russell (born 1998) are close in age, the duo participated in similar karting events which lead to the following photos to be taken.

The first season they both raced in F1 was 2019, which was Verstappen's fourth season and Russell's first.

The rivalry gained greater visibility once Russell moved to Mercedes as they began challenging each other in races directly. Notable flashpoints included the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race, where the two made contact at Turn 2 on the opening lap. Verstappen criticized Russell afterwards, while Russell defended his driving, calling it a normal racing incident. Despite the tense exchange, both drivers later described their relationship as professional.

Things came to a head in Qatar 2024, when Max qualified on pole, but was handed a penalty due to 'driving slowly', a penalty that was pushed for by George. George described the incident as 'super dangerous' but Max 'lost all respect' for Russell saying he'd 'never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard' in the stewards and Max's team Red Bull described George's actions as 'hysterics'. Max confronted George about the penalty before the race, with the two having a heated argument. Sky Commentators called it 'the final nail in the coffin' of their relationship.

After the Qatar race, George asked the interviewer to ask him about the incident so that he could set the record straight. He claimed that before the race Max told him he would "purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and put my head in the wall" and that he could see in his eyes that "he meant it". Meanwhile, Max told journalists that George was a "backstabber" and that he "lies about all sorts of things that aren't true". George said he didn't regret standing up to Max, referring to the other driver as a bully, whilst Max said he wanted nothing to do with George.

At the end of season dinner in 2024, George arrived late and the others had left only two seats free, both next to Max Verstappen. According to rumours, Max waved, said ‘Hi, George’ and indicated for him to sit down. Russell then took one of the seats and moved it away to sit next to his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

During the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Max executed a remarkable overtaking manoeuvre on the opening lap, passing two cars in Turn 1. This move was widely praised within the paddock. George expressed his admiration for Verstappen's skill. He described the move as "overtake of the year, definitely! Without doubt. It's the best overtake I've seen in a hell of a long time."

At the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, the dynamic between them reached a peak on track again. The two were involved in a contentious incident during the race where a frustrated Max purposefully collided with George, resulting in a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points, bringing him to the brink of a race ban. Max was angry over being asked to yield position to Russell and argued with his engineer until they reminded him that it was the rules. Max initially appeared to comply by slowing to let George past but as he did so, Max sped up again and crashed into the side of him.

Russell publicly accused Verstappen of deliberately crashing into his car, saying "It felt very deliberate, to be honest. It's something that I've seen numerous times in sim racing and on iRacing. Never have I seen it in a Formula 1 race." Verstappen issued a statement on social media following the race saying '...some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.' Max later admitted that the move was intentional.

Following the incident, George frequently poked fun at how close Max was to a race ban and remarked that it would be 'justified', joking by saying "I've got a few more points on my licence to play with, so let's see" with Verstappen shaking his head as Russell answered and saying "I don't need to hear it again. It's really pissing me off". Russell then laughed at this with Verstappen calling "a waste of time. It's very childish".

Afterwards, Russell engaged in lighthearted banter about foot size, prompting Verstappen to jokingly comment, "is that why your braking is so good?" On several occasions, when asked about each other in the media, both Max and George have deliberately ignored the other's presence in the room, particularly when the questions involved serious topics such as contract negotiations or career plans.

At the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, another controversial incident occurred. Verstappen accused Russell of erratic braking, while Russell claimed that Verstappen attempted to overtake during the safety car. Red Bull lodged protests but the stewards ultimately rejected them, accepting Russell's explanation that braking was necessary. This sparked a heated radio exchange between the two teams, with Red Bull deciding to pursue the matter further by filing a protest in an attempt to strip Russell of his victory. The protests were ultimately dismissed.

According to Sky pundit and former driver Nico Rosberg, Russell wanted to send a clear message to his rival: ''When you're in safety car and you see Max Verstappen being cheeky and trying to make you nervous by making himself really big right next to you in that mirror, in the exact spot where the mirror is facing, you don't like that. It really annoys you as a driver, like deeply, deeply annoys you. And so it's only from there, it's quite natural to say, you know what, take this you sucker. So yes, he did want to hit the brakes and give one back to Max there''.

They also shared a notable moment on the podium celebration. During the celebrations, Max playfully poured champagne over George’s neck while George deliberately avoided reciprocating. During the post-race press session, George discussed Valtteri Bottas, who produces nude calendars. Max jokingly suggested that George should make his own nude calendar, prompting George to laugh and comment that if he didn’t have a contract next year, he might consider modelling.

During the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix FanForum, drivers participated in a “Guess Who?” game using cardboard face masks. Max asked teammate Yuki Tsunoda, “Am I ugly or beautiful?” and upon receiving the answer “beautiful", Max then said “George Russell” who was backstage at the time and overheard the comment.

Max Verstappen commented on his dynamic with George, stating, ‘We get on all right. We have our moments on the track but it’s all good. We speak. We just leave that behind, at least from my side. You just continue racing. I’m not someone who holds a grudge.’ Despite this, in a later interview after the British GP, Max unexpectedly criticized George, referring back to the Canada 2025 incident by mentioning that some drivers had performed actions similar to Piastri’s brake testing in the race without receiving penalties, inserting a pointed remark that appeared unprovoked.

On a media day interview, Russell was asked if he was bothered that his Las Vegas 2024 victory went largely unnoticed because it coincided with Max’s fourth championship, and whether he thought he was too “nice” to be champion. George responded by saying, "I don't lose sleep over it. Once the visor is down, I race everyone the same way. If someone tries to push me off the track, I fight back too. It's not in my nature to create conflict, but if someone creates one with me, I'm not going to stand by and do nothing."

When questioned about the Qatar GP 2024 incident, Russell addressed the past collision directly. He explained, “he went against me, so I defended myself off the track, you have to know how to stand your ground and not let yourself be walked over. I’ve never let myself be pushed around on track, that’s why I’m respected and if someone tries to push me off the track, I’ll defend myself too.”

Following the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Max was observed checking on George, who was unwell during the weekend. Russell, contending with respiratory issues, had skipped media day to focus on recovery. After parking his car in parc fermé, Russell could be seen hobbling, and Verstappen approached him, visibly concerned.

During the summer of 2025, there were rumours that Max Verstappen would join Mercedes as Russell or Antonelli's teammate in 2026, mainly because George Russell and Kimi Antonelli's contracts had not yet been renewed. Toto Wolff had said he was interested in having Max on his team and George had responded to the rumours by saying that he was sure of his place in the team and that whoever his teammate was the following year, he would accept it. The rumours later proved to be false, but fuelled the fandom.

Quotes

“ Honestly, [it was] very disappointing because I think we're all here, we respect each other a lot and of course, I've been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career, with people that I’ve raced and I've never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. And that for me… I lost all respect..”

— Max about George after Qatar 2024

“ He cannot deal with adversity. Whenever anything is not going his way he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence.”

— George about Max after Qatar 2024

“ Even with our personal relationship, or anything that happened in the past, you still have respect for what he does on the racetrack.”

— George about Max

“ People have been bullied by Max for years now, he's been enabled because nobody's stood up to him. I am standing up for myself to a guy who is questioning my reputation and slamming me in the media.”

— George about Max

“ He said he'd purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and put me on my head in the wall. I knew that was a spur of the moment thing, but the next day, we were joking around a bit with Perez and Carlos, I saw it in his eyes that he meant it.”

— George about Max

“He always acts extremely polite in front of the cameras but if you sit together with him personally, he's a completely different person. I truly can't stand that. Then you might as well get lost. I don't want anything to do with you.".”

— Max about George

Fanon

In some corners of F1 fanon lore, Max Verstappen and George Russell have taken on a new role in the 2025 season — the divorced parents of the rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is Russell's current teammate. The official F1 account has even made jokes to this effect on their tiktok, and have commented on videos depicting Max and George as Kimi's divorced parents.

There has been some controversy between Max and George fans over the ship as the two fandoms have not typically got on. Some George or Max fans view the ship as disrespectful due to the drivers obvious dislike of each other with George previously calling Max a 'bully' and saying that Max had threatened to crash into him (which he later did). This came to a head over the incidents at Qatar 2024 and Spain 2025 where both the drivers and their respective fandoms where at each others throats. Some fans argue that shipping them minimizes serious incidents like this.

On AO3, Russtappen is the second most written ship for George Russell after Galex, and the third for Max Verstappen after Lestappen and Maxiel.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Max/George tag on AO3

Max & George tag on AO3

Gallery