Red Bull Racing driver and four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen refused to start his media session ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix until an English journalist was kicked out of the room. The incident occurred on Thursday 26 March when Verstappen evicted Giles Richards, who works for The Guardian.
“I’m not talking until he leaves,” Verstappen said, pointing to the English journalist.
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Richards, confused by the request, replied: “Really?”, to which Verstappen replied: “Yes.” The reporter then asked, “Because of last year’s question?” Verstappen replied: “Get out!”
Only when the reporter agreed to leave did Verstappen appear relaxed and start a media session at the Suzuka Circuit. Media meetings are part of every driver’s expected duties during Grand Prix weekends, with only FIA press conferences being mandatory.
WHY WAS VERSTAPPEN ANGRY AT JOURNALISTS?
The Dutchman’s frustration with the British journalist stems from a question Richards asked him during last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The question related to an incident during the Spanish Grand Prix when Verstappen, who was running fifth at the time, appeared to have deliberately turned into George Russell’s Mercedes. The incident resulted in a 10-second time penalty which dropped him to tenth and cost him nine points.
Verstappen later lost the chance to claim his fifth Drivers’ Championship to Lando Norris by two points. At the time, Verstappen shut down the question. He said: “You’re forgetting all the other things that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew it was coming.”
“You’re grinning at me silly now. I don’t know. Yeah, that’s part of racing after all. You live and learn. The championship is one of 24 rounds. I also got a lot of early Christmas presents in the second half, so you might as well question that,” he concluded.
max: “You’re forgetting all the other things that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is barcelona. I knew it was coming.”
he didn’t have it pic.twitter.com/8GVCHPeIQ3— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) December 7, 2025
The incident was stopped at the time, but has now returned to the spotlight at Suzuka.
– The end
Published on:
March 26, 2026 7:55 PM IST
