31/10/2020
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen admits that comments he made over the team radio during the Portuguese Grand Prix weekend "not correct" and that he never meant to offend anyone.
In the aftermath of his clash with Lance Stroll in free practice on Friday, the Dutch youngster, who has a reputation for angry outbursts and a lack of patience with the perceived stupidity of some rivals, said: "Is this f****** guy blind? What the f*** is wrong with him?
"Jesus Christ," he continued. "What a retard. I have damage. What a mongol... I swear."
When it was subsequently suggested to him that people might find certain terms he had used offensive, he replied: "That's not my problem."
Indeed, team boss, Christian Horner appeared to justify the youngster's reaction.
"Some drivers work together, and some drivers don't," said Horner. "And sometimes if Max is coming up behind Lance or Ocon, it can get colourful."
However, there followed mounting criticism of Verstappen's use of the words "retard" and "mongol".
Asked about his comments as the Emilia Romagna weekend got underway, Verstappen admitted that they were "not correct".
"I mean, first of all, I never intended to offend anyone," said the Dutchman. "You know, that's never what I wanted.
"It happened in the heat of the moment, when you're driving at such speeds things like that can happen," he added. "I don't say that the words I chose were the right ones. I mean, I also know that they are not correct. But once again, I never meant to offend anyone with that. And besides that, of course, I was swearing at Lance, but then of course I saw him straight away after, and that's what racing drivers are as well.
"We can be angry at each other, but within five minutes when we talk to each other and look each other in the eyes then, you know, it's forgotten. So, I think sometimes things get a bit heated up from the outside.
"While, I never meant, you know, to hurt anyone in particular. So, yeah, I don't think they need to make it bigger than it is. I also know that it was not correct, but I cannot change it. Of course you learn from it. And, well, we'll do better."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Imola, here.