The Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi promises to be fraught with anger as the war of words between Red Bull and Mercedes escalated.

George Russell claimed Max Verstappen threatened to deliberately crash into him at the Qatar Grand Prix last week and to “put you on your f***ing head in the wall”.

The Mercedes driver also alleged the four-time world champion had been “bullying” fellow drivers for years, while his team principal Toto Wolff described his Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner as a “yapping little terrier”.

Russell’s comments came after Verstappen said he’d “lost all respect” for the Briton after a controversial ending to the qualifying session in Qatar last week.

The Dutchman took pole-position ahead of Russell in Lusail but was handed a one-place grid penalty for driving “unnecessarily slowly on a cool-down lap.”

With Verstappen slowing down in a bid to cool his tyres towards the end of Q3, he and Russell tangled at Turn 12, with the latter forced onto the gravel as a result.

The Briton complained over the radio that Verstappen’s behaviour had been “extremely dangerous” and argued his case in front of the stewards.

While the sanction ultimately proved inconsequential as Verstappen won the race on Sunday and Russell finished fourth, the former slammed the Mercedes driver in his post-race press conference.

“I was quite surprised when sitting there in the stewards’ room, what was all going on,” he said.

“I’ve never seen someone trying to s***w someone over that hard.”

George Russell claims Max Verstappen is a “bully”

But Russell hit back on Thursday at the media day ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

“I find it all quite ironic, seeing as Saturday night he said he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my f***ing head in the wall,’” he said.

“So to question somebody’s integrity as a person while saying comments like that the day before, I find, is very ironic, and I’m not going to sit here and accept it.”

The 26-year-old then went even further, questioning Verstappen’s demeanour and suggesting the four-time world champion “cannot deal with adversity”.

“People have been bullied by Max for years now. He’s been enabled because nobody’s stood up to him,” he said.

“I don’t know why this topic has got him so angry. You can’t question his driving abilities, but he cannot deal with adversity.

“As I said, for me, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary.”

Toto Wolff slams Christian Horner as a “yapping terrier”

Russell’s comments kicked off an extraordinary media day at Yas Marina which also saw Wolff take exception with Horner’s remarks.

On Sunday, the Red Bull team principal said the penalty was “more based on hysterics” than anything concrete.

“I think the penalty was more based on hysterics from George, who has been quite hysterical this weekend,” he said.

Wolff, however, did not take kindly to the comments and lashed out at his counterpart.

“Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? If you’re thinking about it, yapping little terrier, always something to say,” he said.

“His forte is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that’s quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.

“There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that, but if the other team principal calls George hysterical, this is where he crosses a line for me.”

Why was Verstappen penalized in Qatar?

In their ruling last week, the stewards noted Russell was right in arguing Verstappen should not have been on the racing line while driving slowly.

However, they also took into account the Mercedes driver could clearly see the Red Bull ahead as a mitigating factor for the Dutchman.

On Thursday, Russell refuted Verstappen’s accusations that he’d deliberately set out to get him penalized.

“There is nothing to lie about,” he explained.

“He was going too slow, he was on the racing line and in the high-speed corner. I wasn’t trying to get him a penalty.”

After the race in Qatar, Verstappen told Dutch TV broadcaster Viaplay that Russell could “get lost” and accused him of acting like “a complete different person” in front of the media.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the reigning world champion said he stood by his comments.

“I meant everything I said,” Verstappen said.

“And it’s still the same. If I had to do it again, maybe I would’ve said even more, knowing the outcome of the race results. I still can’t believe that someone can be like that in the stewards’ room.

“In my whole career, I’ve never experienced what I have experienced in the stewards’ room in Qatar. And for me, that was really unacceptable.”

The Formula 1 season may be over this weekend, but the feud between Russell and Verstappen promises to be around for years to come.