In the world of Formula 1, the one thing to expect is the unexpected. While it’s always been known that F1 drivers aren’t the most keen on press interviews, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took it to the next level during a media appearance for the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at the famed Suzuka Circuit when he didn’t want to answer a question posed to him by a journalist invited to report on the happenings of the Japanese GP.
The Incident Unfolded While Max Verstappen Was Giving Interviews to the Media
GettyRed Bull Racings’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen prepares to speak to the press ahead of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka on March 26, 2026. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
On Thursday, March 26, 2026, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen stepped into the media pen at the Japanese Grand Prix venue and immediately expelled a journalist from the event, per Motorsport. Now Oracle Red Bull Racing is trying to assuage and remedy the situation before the four-time F1 World Champion takes to the racetrack for the 2026 Japanese GP.
The British reporter who was expelled by Verstappen has had a history of asking the driver questions which the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 Team official personnel have said that he has not appreciated. Dating back to the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season, the journalist in Verstappen’s line of fire previously asked the racing driver how he felt about losing out on the championship title due to a 10 second time penalty resulting from the ‘red mist clash’ he’d had earlier in the year with Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team’s George Russell. During the clash, which occurred at the Spanish GP in June 2025, the two drivers went head-to-head and Verstappen was hit with a 10-second penalty as a result. Ultimately, the number of points the Red Bull driver had to sacrifice due to the clash with Russell could have cumulatively made up the difference in winning his fifth World Championship title last December.
However, the F1 World Champion title ended up going to McLaren’s Lando Norris in December 2025. When Verstappen was then approached by the British journalist with a question about whether or not he regretted the penalty he incurred in Barcelona earlier in 2025 and if he believed that it caused the loss of his fifth World Championship, Verstappen became irate.
The 2026 Japanese Grand Prix Is the First Encounter Max Verstappen Has Had With the Journalist Since the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP
GettySUZUKA, JAPAN – MARCH 27: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (3) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 Red Bull Ford on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on March 27, 2026 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
When Max Verstappen saw the journalist in question at Suzuka on Thursday, March 26, 2026, he immediately expelled him from the event and refused to entertain the prospect of being further interviewed by the reporter again. In describing how the original question posed by the reporter in Abu Dhabi affected him, Verstappen explained his perspective, saying, “That particular question [the reporter asked], I answer like 20 times with different people, so it’s not about the question but after the final race when you ask that and laugh in my face while asking it, it’s clearly done with bad intent. It shows a massive lack of respect.”
Verstappen continued, saying, “When you’re not respectful towards me, then I don’t need to be respectful towards you. That’s how it works in life. For me, [the disrespect] is not correct.”
Max Verstappen Has Angry Altercation With a Journalist at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix