Max Verstappen agrees 'British-bias' exists in F1 media coverage

Red Bull driver and three-time world champion Max Verstappen claimed that there was a 'British bias' existing in the F1 media coverage. The Dutch driver has found himself dealing harshly with some of the media outlets ever since his championship battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021.

Former Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey, in his appearance on the High-Performance podcast, spoke about the fans 'demonizing' both Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel previously and believed that the British media outlets were partially to blame.

While speaking with ViaPlay, the Dutch driver seconded the thoughts of Newey and admitted to the bias towards the British drivers but was understanding of the reason behind it. He said:

"Absolutely. I agree 100%. see it like this: if 85% of the media is Dutch, then you secretly always have a bias for a Dutchman doing better than everybody else and in terms of discussions you will always defend your countryman instead of others. That’s just the way it is, you know that as well.

"Of course, you try to keep it as neutral as possible and some countries go overboard with it, I think. I just do my thing, with some you have a good relationship and some you’re just not as interested in. Ultimately all that matters is I do well on track. They can say and shout whatever they want, it doesn’t matter!"

Currently, F1 has three British drivers in the sport who are racing at the front of the grid alongside the 26-year-old, with Lando Norris fighting against him for the championship this year.

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Max Verstappen analyzes his qualifying at the Azerbaijan GP

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that he wasn't happy with his RB20 heading into the qualifying session on Saturday, where he qualified in P6, as the changes made before the session impacted the performance of the car negatively.

Speaking with F1.com, the Dutchman said:

“From the first lap that I did in qualifying, I was not happy with the car, and I just tried to drive around it. When you’re not confident and comfortable with the car on a street circuit, you cannot push to the limit and I think basically that’s what happened.

“As soon as it matters, people start risking more. I just didn’t feel comfortable to attack because the car was just very difficult, jumping a lot, losing contact patch with the tarmac, so not very nice. Of course, I went off in the last corner which also didn’t help, so all in all quite disappointing.”

Max Verstappen will have a good opportunity to extend his lead in the driver's championship against Lando Norris, as the latter will start the race on Sunday from P17. The three-time world champion currently has the lead of 62 points over the British river, with eight races and three sprints remaining in the 2024 season.