Max Verstappen reveals why he kicked out F1 journalist at Japanese Grand Prix

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen reveals why he kicked out F1 journalist at Japanese Grand Prix

Max Verstappen kicked out a journalist at the Japanese Grand Prix

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 28 March 2026 21:14

Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen has explained an incident during Thursday media day at the Japanese Grand Prix, when he exiled a British journalist.

Verstappen refused to start a press briefing with the media in Suzuka until The Guardian’s Giles Richards had left the room, with the British journalist having angered Verstappen at the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi last December.

Verstappen told Richards to 'get out', and would not begin talking to the other journalists until he was out of the room.

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It led to a mixed reaction from fans and other journalists alike, who criticised Verstappen for the move.

The disagreement was understood to have come from a question from Richards back in December that centred around Verstappen's intentional crash into the side of George Russell at the Spanish GP earlier that year, which Richards put to Verstappen could have been what caused him to miss out on the title by just two points.

Verstappen responded at the time by saying: "You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona, I knew that would come... Are you giving me a stupid grin now?"

Now, Verstappen has fully explained himself in a separate interview with Dutch media.

"That particular question I think I've answered like 20 times with different people," Verstappen told media after Japanese GP qualifying.

"So it wasn't about the question, I always explained it very well about the thought process and what happened back then but after the final race when you ask that question and you start laughing in my face while asking the question and it's clearly done with bad intent to ask the question at that point, it shows a massive lack of respect.

"For me when you're not respectful towards me then I don't need to be respectful towards you. I think that's how it works, life, it's very straightforward, very simple and that's why I did that.

"For me it's not correct, I have a lot of respect for everyone, and I get asked a lot of questions, stupid questions as well but I answer them. That's fine. It's not always that the question is great or whatever but that's part of Formula 1.

"In this particular case, it was clearly done with bad intent and of course at that time in Abu Dhabi, the camera is pointed in my face, so you don't see what is behind the camera and how people ask questions, and for me it was very clear that it was done in a very disrespectful way."

Verstappen feeling the strain?

Verstappen has had a dreadful start to the 2026 season, and is already 43 points behind early championship leader George Russell heading into the third race weekend of the season.

The Dutchman crashed out of Australian GP qualifying and then had to retire from the Chinese GP with an engine failure.

What's more, Verstappen has been very critical of the new F1 regulations, repeatedly stating that the new cars are not fun to drive, while describing the rule changes as a 'joke' in China.

It appears as though Verstappen is feeling the strain while lagging behind in the title race, and time will tell as to whether he can turn it around or not.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Japanese Grand Prix