Italian F1 icon BACKS Britain in Max Verstappen row after 'whinging' champions claim

Verstappen with the British flag — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

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Italian F1 icon BACKS Britain in Max Verstappen row after 'whinging' champions claim

Max Verstappen and British media haven't been the best of friends recently

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 27 June 2025 22:13

Six-time F1 race winner Riccardo Patrese has given his thoughts as to whether or not he believes Max Verstappen is given a bad rap by British media.

Verstappen has been involved in a fierce battle with British star George Russell recently, having appeared to intentionally crash into the Mercedes driver at the Spanish Grand Prix.

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Their feud then spilled over into Canada last time out, with both drivers complaining about the other during a late safety car period.

Verstappen has struggled to keep his frustrations under wraps when discussing those incidents with the media, releasing a fiery post-race interview with Sky Sports F1 where he expressed his displeasure over Rachel Brookes only asking him about the collision with Russell rather than the whole race.

The Dutchman is no stranger to battles with British drivers. The 2021 drivers' championship battle between him and Lewis Hamilton was ill-tempered at times, while he and Lando Norris came together many times during their 2024 world championship battle.

Now, Patrese has suggested Verstappen likes 'whinging', claiming that his belief that the British media express bias against him is not right.

"Let's say that, you know, no, I don't agree with him because of his passport," Patrese told List of Sweepstakes Casinos. "If (James Hunt was) Dutch, I don't think he gave any trouble during his career.

"I think the fact that he's special and opens the right doors at the right moment. And he could use all the opportunities he could have. Sometimes with these rules, he doesn't agree, but I don't think it's because he's Dutch instead of English.

Max Verstappen has taken issue with British media in recent times

"Champions usually like whinging a little bit," Patrese continued. "I know very well because I had Nigel [Mansell] in the team... he was whinging all the time."

Verstappen to miss British GP?

While Russell can expect to hear boos ringing in his ears if he gets onto the podium at the Austrian GP due to it being very much Verstappen territory, the Dutchman can probably expect the same at Silverstone in a couple of weeks.

Verstappen may not be able to race in Silverstone, however. Due to his various penalties over the last 12 months, Verstappen is sat on 11 penalty points, one away from an automatic one-race ban from the sport.

If he picks up a penalty point in Austria at Red Bull's home race, he will be forced to miss the British GP, something that fellow Dutch racing driver Jan Lammers suggested Verstappen 'would like' to do.

Either way, Verstappen's rivalry with both Russell and Norris is likely to last for the remainder of the 2025 season, and maybe even beyond as the three drivers compete for race victories in the future.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Lando Norris George Russell