Red Bull chief Christian Horner backed Max Verstappen's denial of George Russell's allegations against the four-time world champion before the Qatar Grand Prix last week.

Russell escalated his war of words with Verstappen on Thursday ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, calling the Dutchman a "bully" following a stewards meeting.

Verstappen claimed that Russell's conduct during a stewards' hearing in Qatar, which saw the Dutchman given a grid penalty, made him "lose all respect" for the Mercedes driver.

The British driver also accused the four-time world champion of threatening to put him “on your f*****g head in the wall”, a claim Verstappen told Dutch media was not true.

Verstappen stood by his stance that he found Russell’s attempts to get him a penalty in Qatar unacceptable, and Horner gave his view on the situation on Friday.

"Max does nothing but tell the truth, so I believe 100 per cent what he said to be accurate," Horner said. "Of course, there were other people in those steward rooms as well.

"They also came back and reported that they were quite surprised at the approach that was taken (by Russell)."

"The thing with Max… He tells you straight, tells you as it is. He never lies, always tells you the truth."

"A lot's been made of it. It's pantomime season," Horner added.

"We are getting ready for Christmas, so there's maybe an element of end of term blues there, but I don't think it will have any effect on the grand prix itself."

Lining up for the last race of the season #F1 || #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/uLHTzWddMl
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 6, 2024

The Red Bull boss also responded to Toto Wolff, after he slammed Horner's leadership, with the Austrian calling him a "yapping little terrier".

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Horner was presented with an opportunity to bite back at those remarks.

"I'm not going to rise to the bait of that. Everybody manages their teams in different ways. We've won 122 races, 14 world championships - I think we're doing alright," he said.

"To be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing? They are not afraid of having a go at the bigger dogs. I would rather be a terrier than a wolf."