Four time world champion Max Verstappen caused a stir ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix on Thursday when he refused to begin his press conference until a British journalist had left the room.
The Red Bull driver sat down to speak to reporters at the team’s hospitality suite in Suzuka, but quickly made clear he would not say a word until a journalist from The Guardian had walked out.
When the reporter asked whether the demand was linked to a question he had put to Verstappen the previous season, the Dutchman simply said “yes” and told him to “get out”. The journalist duly left and the press conference went ahead as normal.
The reporter later told AFP that the row stemmed from a question he had asked Verstappen after the Dutchman narrowly missed out on a fifth world title. Lando Norris had pipped him to the championship by just two points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.
The question that caused the bad blood centred on a penalty Verstappen had received for ramming Mercedes driver George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix back in June, an incident widely seen as having played a part in him losing the title.
