Verstappen On Bias In F1: 'I've Got Wrong Passport For This Paddock'

Friday, 01 November 2024 at 18:30

Updated at Friday, 01 November 2024 at 20:26

Max Verstappen stated he feels he has a "wrong passport" in the Formula 1 paddock as he responded to accusations and pointed out double standards.

The triple World Champion Max Verstappen faced an enormous wave of criticism from multiple pundits, fans, and former F1 drivers such as Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, and Johny Herbert after the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.

When speaking to the media in Sao Paulo on Thursday ahead of the Grand Prix weekend, the Dutchman was approached with some of the comments from the former F1 drivers, and he said:

"I know what most people are like, it's nothing new. Last year was perfect, so it must have hurt a lot for many people that they couldn't say anything negative."

"Now they've got the chance to say something, so they're all coming out of the woodwork. At the end of the day, I've got the wrong passport for this paddock."

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Johny Herbert, who was one of the stewards that gave Verstappen two ten-second penalties at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, said he felt like the Dutchman did what he did on purpose.

Especially when it came to an incident in turn number 7 where the triple World Champion took the Mclaren driver off the track with him, Herbert suggested it was with the intent of helping Charles Leclerc get past so Norris scores fewer points.

"I didn't do anything on purpose. They can't look inside my head. It's a pretty extreme accusation. We just raced hard."

Further commenting on Herbert's past decisions, the Dutchman pointed out how he received a penalty for dropping an F-word during a press conference in Singapore, but when Leclerc did the same after Mexico City, he got away without punishment.

The 60-year-old former F1 driver was one of the stewards on both occasions, and the 27-year-old Red Bull Racing F1 driver hinted he doesn't feel like there was consistency in penalties.

"[Herbert] had big opinions about what I said in the press conference [in Baku], but I didn't hear him after the press conference in Mexico."

"Actually, what [Leclerc] said is worse than what I said in its context, and it was a much more important press conference with more people watching. But you know, I'm not going to spend time on that. It is what it is."