F1 champion Max Verstappen mutes Netflix with genius move

Carlos Sainz, Williams, Australia, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Max Verstappen mutes Netflix with genius move

Max Verstappen has never been a fan of the Drive to Survive cameras

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 6 June 2025 22:26

Max Verstappen found a unique way to stop Netflix from listening in to one of his conversations at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen has never been a huge fan of Netflix's Drive to Survive series, not taking part in several seasons after accusing the series of 'fake' storylines, and most recently criticised them for misrepresenting his emotions at the 2024 Miami GP, which he lost to Norris.

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So it's no surprise that as the four-time champion walked through the F1 paddock, chatting with Lando Norris and Gabriel Bortoleto, Verstappen reached up to push a boom out of the way, in order to stop production crews catching his conversation.

Verstappen has never been a huge fan of Netflix's Drive to Survive series, not taking part in several seasons after accusing the series of 'fake' storylines, and most recently criticised them for misrepresenting his emotions at the 2024 Miami GP, which he lost to Norris.

Verstappen's Spanish GP weekend was full of frustrations - mainly at the lack of pace with his RB21 car - and those frustrations also boiled over, when he appeared to intentionally crash into Mercedes' George Russell, which earned him a 10-second time penalty.

It's no wonder the Dutchman didn't want his conversations to be heard by Netflix, who will surely focus heavily on his controversial move on Russell during their eighth season of the hit series.

Verstappen's frosty media relationship

Following the race in Spain, Verstappen gave a fiery post-race interview to Sky Sports F1's Rachel Brookes, the latest in a long line of frosty media interactions from the Dutchman.

At last year's United States GP, the 27-year-old refused to give proper answers to media gathered in the official FIA press conference for fear of his words being taken out of context.

While that was more a protest against the FIA's swearing policy which had seen him given a community service-style penalty following the Singapore GP, the Dutchman has regularly not been on top form when speaking in these press conferences.

He told Sky Sports' David Croft at the Saudi Arabian GP earlier this season to 'focus on commentating', after he asked a question about Verstappen's long-term future with Red Bull.