F1 ace Max Verstappen speaks plainly: A clear message to online trolls

A drive-through penalty incurred by Chris Lulham at the GT World Challenge Europe season finale meant that Max Verstappen did not have an easy time of it during his GT3 guest appearance last weekend. The Formula 1 star, who shared the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Lulham and Ben Barnicoat, staged a strong comeback from 24th on the grid, finishing in 9th place.

After the race, Lulham faced online abuse, and Verstappen responded immediately with a message on social media, in which he emphasised: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about what happened on the track, but these personal attacks are not on. Chris put in a really strong stint, and mistakes do happen. There’s no place for this sort of attack in our sport – or anywhere else.”

In the Austin paddock, the 73-time Grand Prix winner doubled down: “It starts with the social media companies themselves. You can create as many troll accounts as you like without linking them to real names or addresses. People can say whatever they want online.”

Max Verstappen: “They can all go to hell”

“Personally, I don’t care if it’s directed at me; I mean, they can all go to hell. But when it comes to one of my drivers, who’s young and not used to this sort of pressure and attention, and when they start writing things like that, it’s pretty extreme. That’s why I felt it was necessary to publish this statement,” the Red Bull Racing star continued matter-of-factly.

“I’ve spoken to him about it, of course, and I’ve also tried to make sure he doesn’t read too much of it. I know his character well and consider him to be quite level-headed. But it’s still not good, and definitely undeserved, because he’s simply a great bloke. He’s learning – we all are. We all make mistakes. That’s not a problem for me either. He did such a brilliant job all weekend, and then came this tiny misjudgement. Of course, yes, it cost us a penalty, but there’s no reason to treat him with hatred. I think that’s why it was simply very important to make this statement,” Verstappen added.

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