Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen has hit out at what he perceives to be a “bias” in the British media’s coverage of him.
Verstappen took aim at British media after his stunning fightback victory from 17th on the grid at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, joking they “didn’t know where the press conference is”.
The Dutchman’s comments came after he received criticism from 1996 world champion Damon Hill, as well as ex-British F1 drivers Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert, following controversial clashes with title rival Lando Norris.
“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,” Verstappen told PA.
“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.”
On whether he expects the coverage will change, the Red Bull driver said: “It depends a lot if you are fighting against a British driver. If I was fighting Charles [Leclerc] for example, it would be way less of a problem.”
Leave a Reply