“I don’t think it is only me who has to speak up,” Max Verstappen defends his social media silence
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Max Verstappen
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a huge uproar regarding events happening on the periphery of the F1 circuit. Nelson Piquet’s racist remarks against Lewis Hamilton, the unacceptable behavior of the Dutch fans has all been garnering attention off-late.
The matters were made worse by the hooligan behavior of a certain section of fans present at the Austrian GP. According to reports, women present at Austrian GP were subject to abusive slurs, body shaming among a variety of issues.
Max Verstappen was certainly not pleased with the inappropriate behavior of the fans at the Red Bull ring. The Dutchman called for stricter enforcements, and was certainly against any sort of actions performed by the crowd.
However, the reigning F1 champion has not taken to social media to express his stance on this subject. The Dutchman believes that he is not the only driver that is required to do so. He reminded the reporters that at the end he was an F1 driver, and he cannot afford to call out such political issues on social media.
“I don’t think it is only me who has to speak up,” Verstappen said, quoted by PlanetF1.
“Everyone [should], and that is what I did in the press conference. That has a lot more traction than anything else,” Verstappen added.
“As I said before the weekend, if I really have to speak up about everything in the world, then I can be non-stop on social media. There is a place and time. I feel like already for a year, the only thing I’m talking about is political stuff. At the end of the day, I’m a Formula 1 driver,” he continued.
“Driver does not have to take action”: Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen presented an idea to the F1 authorities to enforce alcohol limits during the race weekends. The Dutchman gave his opinions in the press conferences, but does not want to get involved in the social media act.
The Red Bull driver acknowledges that he has a a large fan following, but at the end of the day the action against such hooligans has to be taken by the authorities.
“Of course, when I get things asked, I speak out and I say what I think of the situation. But I shouldn’t be the political movement behind it because, at the end of the day, I’m a driver in the sport,” said Verstappen.
“People, of course, might be my fans but they are also fans of this sport who misbehave and the sport has to take action – it is not the driver himself that has to take action,” he added.
Max Verstappen finished P2 at the Austrian GP, which was in all fairness his best possible result. Charles Leclerc and Ferrari look undoubtedly superior at the Red Bull ring, as Leclerc made three successful passes on his title rival.
Also Read: Helmut Marko blames ‘setup error’ for Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s off-show in Austria
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Nirmit Mehta
(2425 Articles Published)