Max Verstappen throws a journalist out of a media round in Suzuka. The scandal fits into the current overall picture.
Max Verstappen had absolutely no interest in his uninvited guest. “One second,” said the Dutch Formula 1 star at the start of a media round in Suzuka, Japan – and addressed one of the journalists present: “I won’t say anything until he leaves.“
It’s about a question from months ago
Miles Richards, a reporter for the British Guardian, was the trigger for Verstappen’s anger. “Me? Seriously?“, he replied, completely surprised: “Because of the question I asked you in Abu Dhabi? Because of Spain?“Richards was completely correct in his assumption – and Verstappen didn’t deviate an inch from his demand:”Go out.“
The origin of this personal feud is last year’s season finale. At that time, Richards had asked Verstappen whether he regretted an action against the British Mercedes driver George Russell at the Grand Prix in Barcelona that had taken place months ago: Verstappen had crashed into his opponent in anger and received a ten-second penalty. The four-time champion fell from fifth place to tenth place, lost nine important points – and at the end of the season was a measly two points behind the new world champion Lando Norris.
Max Verstappen seems dissatisfied after the first race of the season
Verstappen’s anger at Formula 1
Verstappen had already reacted angrily to the Guardian journalist’s question in Abu Dhabi, and now the conflict has reached the next level. And so the scandal fit perfectly into the current overall picture that the once so successful Dutchman is giving off these days: On the route he doesn’t produce any positive headlines, instead he seems permanently annoyed. Unlike on Thursday in Suzuka, it’s mostly about the new Formula 1. In the still young season, Verstappen is only eighth in the world championship standings before the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday (7 a.m. / Sky), the gap to leader Russell is already 43 points.
The 28-year-old keeps complaining about the new regulations, which he doesn’t know what to do with yet. The new hybrid engines with the high electric content are one “Joke“Anyone who thinks something like that is good has “no idea about racing,” Verstappen said after the Chinese Grand Prix. The fact that his own car has so far had no chance compared to Mercedes and Ferrari and will probably only be behind in Suzuka doesn’t matter.”I would say that too if I won.”
Verstappen complains, FIA changes rules
Despite all the trouble, Verstappen was still available to answer questions in Suzuka – after Richards had left the room. But there were no positive tones to be heard from him. The premier class of motorsport”feels completely different than last year“, said the former series winner: “That’s the reality we’re in right now and you just have to accept that right now. There’s not much you can do for this season anyway.“He hopes,” said the Red Bull star, “that there will be major changes for next year“.
A small change should already apply in Japan: the maximum permitted energy charge for qualifying will be slightly reduced. The importance of the combustion engine in relation to the electric motor should increase slightly again. The pilots can push themselves to the limit more throughout the entire lap and have to take their foot off the accelerator less often in order to charge the battery to the maximum.
According to the World Motorsport Association FIA, it is now ensured that “that the desired balance between energy use and driver performance is maintained”. As a result of the rule change, drivers are only allowed to recover eight megajoules in a qualifying round instead of the previous nine. ““Moving to eight megajoules probably helps a little bit, but the fundamentals remain the same, so you still have to be careful with your acceleration.”Verstappen commented: “This is of course very different than before.“
