Max Verstappen F1 News: Red Bull star defends X-RATED radio rants amid team struggles

Max Verstappen

Verstappen defends X-RATED radio rants amid Red Bull struggles

Max Verstappen does not hold back on Red Bull's F1 team radio

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Sunday 8 September 2024 18:57

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Max Verstappen has defended his outbursts over team radio, with the Red Bull Formula 1 star insisting that people who don't like his language simply shouldn't listen to him.

Verstappen has been synonymous with success in recent years, but that is not the only thing the Dutchman has been closely associated with during his time at Red Bull.

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The 26-year-old is not afraid to speak his mind over the radio, even if some of his comments are perceived as negative towards his own team.

Max Verstappen has been critical of Red Bull over team radio this season

The Dutchman is without a win in the past six races

Yet Verstappen has dismissed the notion that the team are unhappy with any of his outbursts.

Verstappen not going to change team radio behaviour

"You know, people that don't like my language, then don't listen in, turn the volume down," he told the media including GPFans at Spa.

"I’m very driven for success. I've proven that already. And I always want to optimise stuff. Now, people can argue that you might not be so vocal on the radio, but that's their opinion.

"We are very open minded, we're very critical to each other as a team. And that's been working for us very well. So I don't expect that to change."

"In this world that we're living now, I feel anyway, that a lot of people can't take criticism anymore," he added. "I don't want to end up like that."

Max Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase is often subject to explicit radio messages

When asked whether team radio should be kept private and not broadcast to the public, Verstappen stressed that other athletes in different sports will react the same as he does, just without a microphone to pick it up.

“Well, that's also a thing that, you know, a lot of sports things, you know, people say things, but they don't have a mic attached to their mouths," he said.

"I don't care [about team radio being broadcast]. I mean, I say what I want, but yeah, that's our sport as well naturally because you are communicating a lot with the pit wall, you have, the opportunity to talk.

"When other sports, maybe you swear yourself about stuff that you didn't like, or a team-mate didn't pass you the ball, you call him whatever it is, there is no mic."