"I don't think people truly understand Max Verstappen, just like Sebastian Vettel": When Newey talked about the demonization of the duo

In 2024, Adrian Newey stated that Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel were victims of British media's alleged biased coverage. The design engineer opined that the media often demonizes Verstappen for his aggressive driving style, which is unfair.

Newey, in his 40-year-long career in Formula 1, worked with Vettel and Verstappen at Red Bull. His designed car propelled both drivers to four world titles each. However, the one thing common between these drivers, according to Newey, was their public image.

The 66-year-old, taking to the High Performance Podcast in September 2024, said that Vettel and Verstappen were misunderstood and demonized due to negative coverage by British media.

"From the outside, I'm not sure people fully appreciate and understand Max, just like they didn't with Sebastian. There's this sort of demonization both of them suffered at times, which is very unfair," Newey said. "And maybe that's also a little bit of the British media, if I'm honest. Sky [Sports] has a huge influence around the world. Although viewing isn't truly international, their coverage is quite nationalistic, dare I say, and that can have an influence. It's this thing that now with journalism, typically. There is that trend to sort of either put people on a pedestal or knock them down," he added.

Newey added that Max Verstappen is an extremely intelligent driver with extraordinary racecraft.

"I think that he's very intelligent, and he's got an incredible ability to... It feels as if he can drive the car automatically. He doesn't, of course, but he can drive the car and has so much processing power left over that he can then think a lot about how he's driving the car, how he's looking after the tires, and what he might need to do with the settings."

Verstappen has been criticized for his aggressive moves on the track far too many times in the recent past. However, irrespective of public opinion, he insists that winning is the ultimate motive.

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Max Verstappen lashed out at British media for childish questions in Canada

Max Verstappen at the F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen faced a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with George Russell during the 2025 Spanish GP. Not only that, the Dutchman was handed three additional penalty points. His 12-month tally now stands at 11 points, meaning one more point could get him banned for a race.

Meanwhile, during the Canadian GP held on June 15, Verstappen was repeatedly asked questions related to the threat of a race ban. This irked him as he called out British media, labeling their line of questioning as 'waste' and 'childish.'

"A waste of time. It's just childish. Like I said, it's a waste of time. I really don't have anything to do with that at all. They probably don't have anything better to ask, I don't know," Verstappen told Racingnews365.

The penalty points won't be reduced until after the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix. Hence, Max Verstappen will be required to exercise caution this weekend.

Edited by Mitali