Max Verstappen's cheeky post-race dig at British F1 media leads to explanation from pundit

After Max Verstappen's cheeky dig at the British press, F1 pundit Will Buxton explained why the region's media representatives were not present at the 2024 F1 Brazilian GP's post-race conference.

The Red Bull star had a rollercoaster of a race weekend in Brazil. He had a poor qualifying session and a power unit element change due to which he started the race from P17. In Sunday's Grand Prix, however, he plowed through the field in extremely wet conditions and won the race.

When attending the post-race press conference, Max Verstappen humorously asked where the British press representatives were and whether they had already left for the airport.

"I have a quick question here. I mean, I appreciate all of you being here, but I don't see any British press. They had to run to the airport? Or they don't know where the press conference is?" Verstappen said.

In response to the Red Bull driver, Will Buxton took to X to explain why the British press might not have been present in the press conference. According to Buxton, since press conferences are fully transcribed and officially released, media representatives usually try to hunt down team members and drivers in the paddock itself to get quotes out of them.

"Max’s cheeky post-race dig at UK press not being there probably needs a bit of context. For print press, post-race is a hectic time of driver pen and ad hoc team boss interviews conducted in the paddock itself," Buxton wrote.

"From my days as a written journalist the balance was always weighing up grabbing quotes in the paddock versus asking a question in the conference knowing that a full transcript is always made available of the top three presser. Paddock is usually a better use of time on deadline," the F1 pundit went on.

Furthermore, Buxton said the British press might not have been present in certain press conferences because there was no major controversy taking place.

"If you’re British, then a Lewis, Lando, George in the top 3 probably gives a bit of sway to being there but not always. Usually only if there’s a controversy that needs addressing would you sacrifice searching out often unique quotes for a fully transcribed official session," he concluded.

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Max Verstappen's father also takes a dig at British press after his son won the Brazilian GP

Max Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen, also took a jibe at British media after his son's monumental victory at the 2024 F1 Brazilian GP.

Speaking to the German wing of Sky Sports, Jos said his son showed who was the best driver with his exceptional drive from P17 to P1. He added that the negativity from the British media and drivers became fuel for his son to perform even better.

“He showed who is the best today. And I also believe he was very motivated after the negative journalists from England and the negative drivers. But today he showed who is the best. They think they are taking him out of his good mood, but he will only get better because of it. I’m very proud of what he showed today. I think the whole world saw who is the very best,” Jos said. (via PlanetF1)

With the Brazilian GP, Max Verstappen has extended his lead in the drivers' championship. He leads the table with 393 points, while McLaren's Lando Norris is in second place with 331 points.