Max Verstappen caused a stir on Thursday during an official press moment ahead of the Japanese GP. Before he wanted to speak to a group of journalists in the paddock, he ordered Giles Richards, F1 correspondent for The Guardian, to leave; otherwise the Dutchman would not speak to the media. Richards has since published an extensive response, indicating he wants to settle things quickly with Verstappen.
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First of all: what preceded the press moment in Suzuka? For that we need to go back to last year, to the FIA press conference after the final race in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen had lost the championship there by two points. Richards asked him at the time whether he regretted the incident during the Barcelona GP with George Russell, whom he had deliberately hit according to the stewards. The Dutchman received a penalty for this, causing him to miss nine points. Verstappen was already irritated in Abu Dhabi, but in Japan the matter had a follow-up when he figuratively showed Richards the door: “Get out”, the Dutchman ordered.
In a response, Richards writes the following: “All in all, I am extraordinarily privileged with the work I get to do. I am therefore not quick to complain, but I was deeply disappointed when Max Verstappen decided to remove me from the room on Thursday following a question I had asked at the end of last season. Suzuka was our first meeting in 2026”, Richards explains. “When he saw me, he stared at me, smiled and declared that he would not talk until I left. I have never been asked to leave a press conference.” According to Richards, it is far from usual for a member of the press to be excluded in this way. Moreover, he states that he has always had a good relationship with the Dutchman in the past.
Sensitive nerve
“In more than ten years of reporting, I have interviewed Verstappen perhaps twelve times, always friendly and in good spirits”, he recalls. “His exceptional talent earned him praise and admiration in those articles; criticism was minimal and moreover justified. One incident last year seems to have struck a sensitive nerve. I was certainly surprised by the intensity of his response and may have had a nervous smile on my face”, said Richards about the incident in Abu Dhabi. “But I didn’t find it funny and didn’t enjoy teasing him either.”
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“And so we came to the press conference in Japan”, the Englishman continues. “After being told that he would not talk unless I left, I asked if that was because of the question in Abu Dhabi. He confirmed it. Once again I was surprised. Perhaps I had another nervous grin on my face, who knows? I asked him again if it was because of that question. ‘Are you really that angry about it?’ I asked, to which he replied: ‘Yes. Go away.’ I did so politely. Verstappen had been smiling the whole time. Perhaps he simply enjoyed the power dynamic? The day went on; there are more important problems in the world than an angry F1 driver.”
Anonymous email
Richards then tells how he was attacked via an anonymous email shortly after. “Within two hours someone had found my email address”, he writes. “‘You are the problem’, it said. ‘You are the toxic idiot responsible for all the British bias in F1.’ I haven’t opened X by the way and don’t plan to”, he added, for fear of more negative reactions. He did receive considerable support from other media. “My colleagues in the press were unanimously shocked and concerned about my well-being. ‘Inappropriate’, someone said, with a mocking look at Verstappen’s behavior. I’m doing fine. The most uncomfortable thing is perhaps having to write about this in the first person. A journalist never wants to be the subject of the story themselves, even though that now seems unavoidable.”
“The incident and its aftermath are nevertheless unfortunate”, Richards concluded. “Not least because of the accusations of bias. Reporting as honestly and objectively as possible has always been my goal. I still admire Verstappen and hope we can have a better relationship in the future. Sometimes difficult, uncomfortable questions simply have to be asked. That’s part of the job.”
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Read everything about the Japanese GP here
