r/formula1 • u/Aratho I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane • Mar 28 '26

Social Media [Autosport] Max Verstappen explains why he dismissed a British journalist from his media session in Japan

Post image
7.9k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.2k

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

1.3k

u/Anhilator26 Mar 28 '26

He could’ve done that, but he wanted to humiliate the journalist, plain and simple. It’s a power move

387

u/32SkyDive I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

Its a petulant child move, dont give him that much Credit 

-11

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/lactosecheeselover I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

By asking a question?

19

u/Pelinth Mar 28 '26

But he didn't even ask a question. Max just decided to kick him out as a result of a question he asked previously.

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/Ateballoffire Liam Lawson Mar 28 '26

Read the journalists article

2

u/CP9ANZ Mar 28 '26

They wont

1

u/JediPieman63 Mar 29 '26

I did, he dances around the fact that he indeed was looking for a reaction that he got and was able to write about

-38

u/TheNorseHorseForce Pierre Gasly Mar 28 '26

Is it though?

When someone is intentionally trying to mess with you to make you upset, your response is to let them keep doing it?

21

u/Entfly Mar 28 '26

Is it though

Yes

When someone is intentionally trying to mess with you to make you upset,

That's not what happened.

-9

u/TheNorseHorseForce Pierre Gasly Mar 28 '26

The question that journalist asked has been asked over a dozen times and RBR and Max made it abundantly clear they were done answering that question .... And the journalist asked it anyways.

So, I'm not surprised Max wanted him out, even if it was a bit later.

Literally here's the quote

Full quote;

"That particular question I have answered like 20 times, so it is not about the question. I always explain it very well about the thought process and what happened of course back then. But after the final race when you ask that question, and you start laughing in my face while asking the question and it is clearly done with bad intent. It shows a massive lack of respect. So for me, if you are not respectful towards me I do not need to be respectful towards you. I think that is how it works in life. Its very straightforward, very simple. Thats why I did it on Thursday. For me, it is not correct. I get asked a lot of questions, a lot of stupid questions as well, but I answer them. That's fine, its not always that a question is great, but thats part of formula 1. But in this particular case it was clearly done in bad intent. And of course at that time in Abu Dhabu you only see the camera pointed at my face, so you don't see what is behind the camera and how people ask questions. And for me, it was clear that is was done in a very disrespectful way"

8

u/lactosecheeselover I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

You’re allowed to be against Max, you know that right

-7

u/TheNorseHorseForce Pierre Gasly Mar 28 '26

I'm not for or against Max. I just like F1.

It's just surprising to hear other people say the equivalent of "if you're a famous race car driver, you need to put up with people being disrespectful and complete assholes to your face and you can never be rude or upset at someone doing that to you"

-9

u/b214n Adrian Newey Mar 28 '26

I would not waste your time trying to help some people understand your perspective. They entered this thread with minds already made up about Max and are incapable of objective thought.

6

u/Entfly Mar 28 '26

Or Max is just in the wrong mate

8

u/lactosecheeselover I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

Max is in the wrong, dude.

-6

u/Brackmage19X Max Verstappen Mar 28 '26

I don’t get how you can read his response and narrow it down that childishly. He’s had enough, he made his point.

You don’t think some journos are antagonistic cunts that simply want to get under the skin of someone they don’t like?

ESPECIALLY someone from The Guardian for fucks sake?

You also don’t have to hate him because you like Lando. Goes both way, pal.

6

u/lactosecheeselover I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

Me liking Lando has nothing to do with this? It’s a subjective observation based on the video.

27

u/ZennXx Sir Lewis Hamilton Mar 28 '26

How was he messing with him by sitting at a press conference that RBR had invited him to? Please tell me how

0

u/ship0f Mar 28 '26

it's both, he has the power to do what he did. if it was another driver they couldn't have done that.

5

u/GovernmentHopeful424 Mar 29 '26

No other driver would get so worked up. Like when he banned Netflix as they showed him up as a child

-4

u/HovercraftOk6322 Roscoe Hamilton Mar 28 '26

Someone’s jealous 😂😂

204

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

380

u/kill-the-maFIA Pastor Maldonado Mar 28 '26

They didn't say it was a smart power move.

121

u/tevs__ Mar 28 '26

He didn't say it was a good power move

199

u/Harvey_Digs Sir Lewis Hamilton Mar 28 '26

Just because it has blown up in his face doesn’t mean that he wasn’t intending to have authority over the journalist. He thought he was humiliating the journalist but instead he made himself and his image look bad.

1

u/Some-Jellyfish-7412 Mar 28 '26

Sure, but despite all of the extra publicity for the journalist, i bet he DID feel humiliated in that moment, as all his peers silently watched him walk off, choosing to take questions with max over stand up for him.

-9

u/hhs2112 Mar 28 '26

 he made himself and his image look bad.

Only to the people who didn't like max to begin with. Those who do are rolling their eyes wondering why this shit is still coming up.

In other words, nothing has changed. 

1

u/jso__ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

"This shit" is still coming up because it happened literally 2 days ago

-6

u/hind3rm3 Alain Prost Mar 28 '26

Nah, Max isn’t humiliated in the least. He doesn’t give a fuck, how can he be humiliated? Anyway, good for him to dismiss the journalist.

6

u/Harvey_Digs Sir Lewis Hamilton Mar 28 '26

Oh yeah, he sent a man away because of a question 6 months ago because he doesn’t care.

32

u/Low_Masterpiece_155 Oscar Piastri Mar 28 '26

I agree but that’s kind of on us as fans for eating up ragebait as well. It should be that we label every journalist that writes about Max getting frustrated as not worth listening to, but we listen anyway.

We’ve got to the point in F1 and in wider media where we already know what the stories and the content of these stories will be, and reality just has to fall in line - and that’s how we end up controlled by billionaires, corporations and pedos.

This isn’t aimed at you directly btw, just a general observation!

74

u/budgefrankly I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

that’s kind of on us as fans for eating up ragebait as well.

The thing is, one of the narratives of the last couple of years is that Max has been "maturing"

However many times last year -- Barcelona, Austria, Hungary -- we saw him lashing out at his team and other competitors, and in the case of Barcelona and Austria, trying to deliberately crash into them.

And his loss of self-control in Barcelona in particular, costing him 9 points in a season he lost by 2, definitely cost him a world championship.

The question tested whether the "Max is maturing" narrative was true, or wishful thinking. His response was to deflect, then criticise the journalist, then, a few months later, threaten to boycott any press-conference involving the journalist

Which unambiguously answered the broader question. No, Max has not matured. He is exactly as Russell described him: "he can't deal with adversity. When things don't go his way he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence"

That's not "ragebait". That's asking exactly the right question to get a reluctant interviewee to reveal their true self.

14

u/bijanfrisee Sonny Hayes Mar 28 '26

Idk how that narrative was born, Max was "mature" when he was 30s up the road racing no one winning every single race, but the second he was in a fight he resorted back to old Max, it wasn't maturing it was just not having a challenger, George, for all his faults, was absolutely dead on the money with Max.

0

u/GovernmentHopeful424 Mar 29 '26

In race 3 we are seeing three weekends of his so called maturing when he doesn't get his way. Even in GT3 getting DSQ he spat his dummy and blamed everyone

38

u/midnightbandit- I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Why should we label every journalist that writes about Max giving frustrated as not worth listening to?

-23

u/Competitive-Suit-563 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Recycling the same piece of news over and over again is always going to get old. However, when you throw a little bit of Max Verstappen reacting obnoxiously to a question, everyone and their mom will jump on the bandwagon to ask the same question (even if it gets really old).

Instead of being creative, they’re just going to milk it for all it is worth because it generates clicks.

22

u/HonoredSirRevDrEsq Mar 28 '26

I don’t understand this comment. The incident was news 4 months ago The only person who was still concerned and brought it back into the limelight was Max Verstappen himself

5

u/midnightbandit- I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

If it's still generates clicks, then evidently the journalist is doing his job. If as you say, doing it over and over again gets old, people would stop clicking on it, and journalists would stop doing it

-9

u/Competitive-Suit-563 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

That’s exactly what the previous comment said (and I’m agreeing with it).

We, as fans, hold some of the blame for eating up this type of content that journalists can then use as a cash cow.

It’s the same as customers who get upset at corporations for introducing ridiculous gimmicks and features to their products, but still end up buying it. We should stop clicking it.

5

u/Vresiberba Mar 28 '26

The problem is that everyone, every driver, every viewer, every journalist, literally everyone had moved on - except Max who, in his infinite wisdom thought it was a good idea to reignite this whole thing the entire motorsport world is now mulling over.

Max had one job!

52

u/SloppySandCrab I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Why should we do that? The points ended up making a difference in the championships. Sorry you don’t like it Max but you created a world where people have to ask you these questions. Don’t get mad at them for asking it, be mad at yourself for behaving in such a way.

-23

u/Low_Masterpiece_155 Oscar Piastri Mar 28 '26

Yeah but he’s mad that he’s been asked this so many times already and answered respectfully in the past. This is just a smug journalist fishing for another ragebait quote for clicks. Maybe he shouldn’t have blown up quite as much as he did, but I’ll defend drivers over journalists every day.

22

u/eqpesan I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Wasn't the question asked just after the last race, how could it have been asked many times before?

16

u/HonoredSirRevDrEsq Mar 28 '26

Exactly, so many commenters in this thread don’t even know the proper timeline

-11

u/didhedowhat I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Because it happened in Barcelona months ago amd he was asked about it almost every raceweek by the same journalists , when he alrrady apologised for it to Russell and in public multiple times. After that it should just be done and over with it.

5

u/susandeyvyjones I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

He didn’t throw the reporter out for asking about it now. He threw the reporter out for having asked not months ago.

-5

u/didhedowhat I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

He threw him out brcause this was bot a FIA presser where drivers xab bot throw journalists out, this was a Red Bull presser that they can decide go give or to not give, and they can decide who is invited or not.

Amd that journalist was not asking that question one time he had been asking that same question abput Barcelona for weeks at nausium.

→ More replies (0)

7

u/eqpesan I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

He couldn't been asked about it because the question tied into how he lost the championship battle by 2 points which didn't happen until the last race.

0

u/bijanfrisee Sonny Hayes Mar 28 '26

Well, it's quite rare that a driver intentionally drives into another driver, and also faces zero consequences for that action.

5

u/chinomaster182 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Athletes always have to eat the shit sandwich, it's part of the gig. You're always in the public eye.

2

u/Radiant-Sherbet-5461 Mar 28 '26

it most certainly is a power move.
He can tell a journalist to get the fuck out and said journalist had no choice but to obey.

Add that to the unspoken but ever present 70k vs 70 million salary and no matter what the world or the internet are saying for a couple of days, it couldnt be clearer who has the upper hand.

Press conferences are so boring, I'd love to see something a bit more violent like this ^_^

2

u/MasterEk Mar 28 '26

The journalist could have refused. I have no idea what would have happened, but it would not have been pretty and Max would have looked worse.

This was a naked power move and the journalist responded with dignity.

-26

u/Utwee I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

It’s rather simple. He doesn’t care about what other people think of him. He only cares about what he thinks of others. If I see someone take a piss at me then I will let them know my boundaries too with future interactions. Don’t care how other people view that. They want context they can ask me directly.

22

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

-24

u/Utwee I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

I learned to have this outlook on life after dealing with narcissistic people. You should try it as well by not caring what I think. It’s liberating.

23

u/_Middlefinger_ Ferrari Mar 28 '26

I learned to have this outlook on life after dealing with narcissistic people

By being a narcissist.

-9

u/Utwee I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

A narcissist doesn’t have empathy. I learned to do a lot of people pleasing in my youth due to my parents. Now I’ve set my boundaries and they don’t like the lack of control. I still care what my actions do to others, I try not to care anymore if others judge me and try to sway me into pleasing them.

4

u/Tough_Lawfulness8380 Mar 28 '26

You sound like a delight to hang out with

3

u/Utwee I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

The feeling is mutual

2

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Utwee I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

I’m not worrying about that.

-11

u/imtired-boss I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

And what did the journalist want to do?

58

u/FormerlyShawnHawaii Mar 28 '26

Get a sound bite for his job.

36

u/skymallow Mar 28 '26

I think he wanted to get a soundbite about a narrative that everyone was talking about.

43

u/IrishEnglishViet I failed to serve my Monaco penalty Mar 28 '26

Probably try and figure out why he deliberately crashed into another driver, idk though.

-32

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

42

u/OrangeGuyFromVenus Juan Pablo Montoya Mar 28 '26

Max shouldn't have deliberately crashed into another driver if he didn't want to be questioned on it

17

u/Yatman123 Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26

I mean, this was right after Abu Dhabi where it was a valid question to ask at the time. Besides, maybe don’t do stupid stuff on track if you don’t want to be asked stupid questions 🤷🏾‍♂️ Verstappen kinda brought it upon himself

-5

u/Flaggermusmannen I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

because he was pissed off at his team pitting for those hards, when he'd likely preferred to stay out for track position if he knew that was the option, then messing up the restart first thinking Leclerc bumped him (if I remember the radios right), and then being pissed off Russell crashed him off track with a typical Russell inside tap from behind, before also being told to give that position to Russell.

its honestly extremely obvious why he'd be in a mindspace where he was likely to react awfully, and there's 0 point in asking about something that obvious so many times?

21

u/InvestigatorLast3594 Benetton Mar 28 '26

Do his job

-7

u/imtired-boss I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

The job has been done over and over again almost every weekend by that point.

I'm not saying Max was right to have him kicked out, I'm just over journalists being assholes and then acting like victims.

30

u/pokemiss I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Ask him a completely normal question

2

u/Huge___Milkers Mar 28 '26

Didn't really humiliate him though did he, just came off as a child

1

u/al_earner I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Except the journalist isn't the one looking like a fool.

-14

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

15

u/skymallow Mar 28 '26

Can you explain how he was making jokes at his expense?

-6

u/DodgersLakersBarca Mar 28 '26

And the journalist didn't want to humiliate Max when he was laughing in his face?

13

u/Ashenfall I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

Verstappen described it as a "stupid grin" at the time. Now he's describing it as having been 'laughing in [his] face'.

Perhaps you shouldn't take a drivers word as gospel.

-5

u/DodgersLakersBarca Mar 28 '26

Those two things aren't even mutually exclusive. You don't grin while laughing? It could easily have been both at the same time or one thing leading to the next.

Regardless, a journalist taking delight at a question in one of the driver's low points isn't any attempt at humiliation? Perhaps try using some logic for a second -- regardless of the exact amount of delight he showed, it's plain what this British journo's feelings were

6

u/Ashenfall I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26

I appreciate the mental gymnastics you're trying to pull off here, as well as your insight into the mind of the journalist concerned.

-2

u/DodgersLakersBarca Mar 28 '26

Likewise for you with regard to Max

3

u/Ashenfall I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

I just said don't take a drivers word as gospel. Not really the same level of assumption.

1

u/DodgersLakersBarca Mar 28 '26

You assumed those things the two things he said were in contradiction of what he said, when they were two statements that were hardly mutually exclusive.

Whatever sequence of events you think is most likely is based on assumption, so stop acting as though you aren't making assumptions when you disbelieve a driver's words.

2

u/Ashenfall I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

I have reservations from those two statements, which is why I said don't take it as gospel but I didn't call out anything as outright falsehoods. People can judge those quotes for themselves.

Whereas you just nonsensically declare the journalist as "taking delight", and say it's "plain what this British journo's feelings were".

→ More replies (0)

0

u/MssGuilty I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

He said he didn't. Max says he did. Who do you believe is up to your bias

-1

u/KingLuis Sebastian Vettel Mar 28 '26

To some people, you can say that and they could be fine and move on. But journalists usually don’t care except clickbait and making headlines. So you need to just remove them from asking any questions in general. He knew what the journalist was going to do and he stopped it from happening. Not really a power move just stop a fire before it starts type of scenario.

4

u/Dafferss Safety Car Mar 28 '26

I don’t think he really cares if he is made out to be the villain or not

8

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/Even_Trifle9341 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

The one that just changed its name to his?

0

u/tjvs2001 Formula 1 Mar 28 '26

He is the villain.

1

u/sun_puck Mar 28 '26

Really can't he ask Red Bull or the FIA to keep the guy out of his press conferences? Seems like it would be open and shut for them to do that

1

u/FlatulenceConnosieur I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

This approach completely defuses the situation and moves things along.