Max Verstappen ejected a journalist from his news conference at the Japanese Grand Prix because of a row that dates back to last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The Red Bull driver refused to start his session with the written media at Suzuka on Thursday after spotting the Guardian’s Giles Richards among the journalists present.
Verstappen said: “One second – I’m not speaking before he’s leaving.”
Richards asked whether Verstappen was serious, and whether it was to do with a question he had asked in the news conference after the final race of last season.
Verstappen responded to each of Richards’ questions with a curt: “Yeah,” before adding: “Get out.”
When Richards left the room, Verstappen said: “Now we can start.”
In a column in the Guardian, external, Richards said he was “deeply disappointed” by Verstappen’s actions and that his “colleagues in the press pack were universally shocked and offered concern” for his well-being.
Richards added: “I still admire Verstappen and I hope we can enjoy a better relationship in the future.
“Sometimes, difficult, awkward questions have to be asked. That’s the job that comes with the privilege.”
Verstappen’s problem with Richards arises from a question the Briton asked after the race in Abu Dhabi last year.
The Dutchman won but was unable to prevent himself losing out on the drivers’ title to McLaren’s Lando Norris by two points.
Richards asked after the race whether Verstappen now “regretted” his incident with Mercedes’ George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix in June earlier that year.
Verstappen appeared to deliberately drive into Russell’s car and was given a penalty that dropped him from fifth on the road to 10th. That cost him nine points.
Verstappen responded: “You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come. You’re giving me a stupid grin now.
“I don’t know. Yeah, it’s part of racing at the end. You live and learn. The championship is one of 24 rounds. I’ve also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half, so you can also question that.”
A source close to Verstappen, who did not want to be named, said he had reacted that way in Japan not because of the specific question that was asked last year, but the way it was asked and the reaction while Verstappen was answering it.
Verstappen had earlier in the weekend answered a question on the same topic, phrased in a different way, in a BBC Sport interview.
Asked why that incident happened, he said: “Probably because I’m too… driven. Because I never settle for ‘not good enough’, and we, of course, look for a comfortable podium.
“Then, of course, I got put on a strategy which was completely different to others. Then I get driven into the straight, I get driven into Turn One, and I get told that I have to give the position back, which I find ridiculous. And I never settle for that.
“I could have easily said, ‘I’m on the hard tyres, my race is gone’, and you just let everyone by, and it has to go with you. But that’s not how I am.
“But at the same time, of course, the reaction that came out of it is not good. But at the same time, it’s because I always, when I’m in the car, I give it 100%. I cannot sit there and be 95% and that just explains it.
“But of course, when you look back at it, it was not ideal. But it’s also moments that you learn from.”-BBC
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