Max Verstappen tackles ‘biased British media’ in ‘championship-winning mentality’ dig

Max Verstappen takes on British F1 media after ‘not fair’ coverage

The Red Bull driver’s latest World Championship comes after a troubled second half of the season, in which his RB20 has often been no match for Norris’s McLaren.

Verstappen came under fire last month after on-track skirmishes with Norris in consecutive races in the United States and Mexico, with the Red Bull man hit with two separate 10-second penalties in Mexico City for forcing his rival off the track.

Damon Hill, the 1996 World Champion and Sky F1 pundit, likened Verstappen to Dick Dastardly, the villain from the Wacky Races television cartoon, in the aftermath of the Mexican GP.

Hill announced earlier this month that he will leave Sky F1 at the end of F1 2024.

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It is unclear if Hill’s decision to part company with Sky F1 is linked to the criticism he received for his comments about Verstappen, with FIA steward and former Sky F1 pundit Johnny Herbert revealing the 64-year-old was left “very unhappy” with the reaction to his views.

Herbert, who was on the four-person stewards’ panel that decided Verstappen’s punishment in Mexico, also found himself under the microscope after publicly criticising the World Champion’s “horrible mindset.”

Long-serving UK F1 commentator Martin Brundle also warned that Verstappen risks having his legacy “tainted” by his unsportsmanlike conduct on track.

Verstappen took aim at the British media after ending a 10-race winless run in Brazil earlier this month, suggesting in the post-race press conference that UK reporters had “run to the airport” after Norris’s title hopes took a severe blow in a rain-interrupted race.

The 27-year-old has doubled down on his comments, insisting that there is “definitely” a British bias in the motor racing media and warning that he is prepared to keep fighting against it.

According to the Independent, he told the Press Association: “Sometimes in racing situations, or battles, or certain penalties, and the way people look at success and how much credit they give you or not, I definitely feel that there is a bias.

“The problem in F1 is that 80 to 85 per cent of the media is British. And I did feel that some things which were written about me were not fair.

“I am not going to sit here and single out one broadcaster, but I just had to laugh about what was said. I was like: ‘Whatever.’

“At the end of the day yes, [I have four titles] and they are the ones in front of a microphone.

“I speak out. I don’t care. If I don’t agree with something I will tell you.

“On the track, I will put it all on the line. I am not going to back out. I want to win. That needs to be the end result.

“Some people criticise me for that, but most of them don’t have a championship-winning mentality so they don’t understand. And they will never understand that kind of approach.”

Verstappen went on to suggest that the reaction to his driving would be different if he were competing against a non-British driver like Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari star.

He added: “It depends a lot if you are fighting against a British driver. If I was fighting Charles, for example, it would be way less of a problem.”

In a separate interview with the Times, Verstappen warned that the British media should report more fairly given that they dominate the F1 press rooms.

He said: “Every country has [a bias]. I would say 80 to 85 per cent of media in F1 is British and that goes all over the world, so whatever you say has a lot more worth to it.

“Sometimes it’s important to also speak up against it, because it’s not always acceptable.

“The things that are said, I won’t allow that to happen.”

Verstappen’s comments come after his father and former F1 star Jos Verstappen revealed that the Red Bull man’s performance in Brazil, where he recovered from 17th on the grid to win by 20 seconds, was inspired by the negative coverage he received in the days after the Mexican GP.

Mr Verstappen told Sky Germany at Interlagos: “He showed who is the best today.

“And I also believe he was very motivated after the negative journalists from England and the negative drivers.

“But today he showed who is the best. They think they are taking him out of his good mood, but he will only get better because of it.

“I’m very proud of what he showed today. I think the whole world saw who is the very best.”