Max Verstappen makes his feelings known about British bias in F1 media and reporting
Max Verstappen has opened up about the British bias in F1 media and broadcasting. He said that one of the biggest reasons behind it is that almost 80-85% of the media is from that region of the world.
The 2024 F1 season has been the best example of what a driver can achieve if he's consistently focused on extracting the best from the car every weekend. In the case of Max Verstappen, the end product is the world title.
The Dutchman won his fourth straight title, owing to a consistent run that began once he realised he didn't have the car to fight the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. The Red Bull driver knew that his challenge was going to be Lando Norris, with whom Verstappen was the most aggressive.
However, his aggressive driving style came under a lot of criticism from the British media, with Sky Sports pundits Martin Brundle and Damon Hill questioning Verstappen's driving tactics.
This season, Max Verstappen spoke out against these critics and eventually had the final laugh, as he won the title. Talking to Independent, he touched on the bias in the media:
"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."
He added:
"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’."
Critics don't have the racing mentality: Max Verstappen
Talking about the critics of his driving style, Max Verstappen was quite blunt in his assessment of their views. Talking about how they are not racers so they don't understand the mentality of ones involved, he said:
"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."
He added:
"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.”
The 2025 F1 season could feature multiple contenders fighting for the title as Max Verstappen looks for a fifth straight triumph, which could once again put the Red Bull driver at odds with the British media.