F1 champion kicked journalist out of their motorhome

lewis hamilton, natalie pinkham, damon hill, sky f1, 2019, silverstone — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

F1 champion kicked journalist out of their motorhome

Damon Hill 'did a Verstappen'.

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Tuesday 7 April 2026 20:59

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill has opened up on when he did a Max Verstappen and exiled a British journalist.

Verstappen recently kicked The Guardian's Giles Richards out of his Red Bull round table at the Japanese Grand Prix, refusing to start the interviews until the Brit had left.

He later revealed that it was down to the fact that he had been left unhappy by a question from Richards at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in late 2025.

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Now, 1996 world champion Hill has revealed a time when he did a similar thing to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, who at the time was working for Autosport.

The moment centred around a story that Benson had run titled 'Has Hill been dumped?', with it reported that Williams were looking to get rid of the Brit at the end of 1996 despite his world championship victory.

"It only broke later when Frank told me that it was not a load of rubbish. I did a Max Verstappen and told Andrew, 'you can get out of here and you are not welcome'.

"Poor old Andrew scurried out. But he knew it was true, and I had to kind of dig a bit to find out."

Verstappen's frustrations boil over

Not only did Verstappen kick out a journalist in Japan, but he also suggested that he was 'seriously considering' retiring from the sport, unless the FIA make certain changes to the new regulations.

Verstappen has had his poorest start to a season in terms of grand prix results since 2016, when he was still at Toro Rosso before making the move up to Red Bull later that year.

He is currently sat down in ninth in the drivers' championship, with just 12 points coming from the opening three race weekends for the four-time champion.

Verstappen has claimed that the new cars in 2026 are not fun to drive, and has compared F1's new rules with Mario Kart.

But some commentators, including Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, have stated that all his frustration stems from the fact that Red Bull are not quick this year, and have given him a car capable of midfield running at best.

F1 Max Verstappen Damon Hill