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Max Verstappen Slams “Toxic” Behavior Favoring Lewis Hamilton Amid Recent Media Boycott

Published 10/31/2022, 5:45 AM EDT

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Max Verstappen has achieved a milestone. He surpassed the German greats record for most wins in a season(13). The Dutchman proved all the stats wrong as he broke the curse of the Mexico Grand Prix, where the last four pole sitters failed to finish at podiums. This year’s performance delighted the whole Red bull team, but there’s something that is pinching the Milton Keynes side.

The Mexican Grand Prix saw the boycott of sky sports by the whole Red Bull team. The reaction was a repercussion to a clip from UK coverage of US GP, where one of the pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz used “robbed” for several times to talk about the 2021 final and the way Lewis Hamilton was withdrawn from his 8th title championship.

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For the entire weekend, the team was seen boycotting the broadcasters and after the race, Max Verstappen opened up about his decision. He said , “It had nothing to do with this weekend, but this year has been a constant, kind of like digging and being disrespectful, especially from one particular person. At some point, it’s enough, I don’t accept it.”

via Reuters

He further added how social media is not a healthy place. He said, “Social media is a very toxic place, and if you are constantly being like that on live TV, you make it only worse instead of trying to make it better in the world.”

Not only the reporters but the fans of Lewis Hamilton are also not in love with the Dutchman’s charm. The whole Red Bull team has performed splendidly over the time of two years. The performance was a blessing for the orange army, but not for the Hamilton fans.

Max Verstappen explains why people don’t like him

The last season’s breaching of the budget cap by the Red Bull has once again revived the hostility between the two sides. Last Year, FIA introduced a budget cap of $145million to help smaller teams get a platform to fight bigger teams. But the Milton Keynes team seems to have overrun the budget cap.

This overspending has led $7million fine and a reduction in wind tunnel development time for the next 12 months. Some of the fans are seeing this punishment as a lenient move, as the Dutchman won the title of 2021 with a small margin. Last weekend the animosity was at pinnacle as in Austin the crowd cheered Hamilton and shouted ‘cheater’ to Verstappen on the stage.

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Talking with daily mail about why the fans are not liking his character, Verstappen gave a humbling reply. He said, “It’s not like football and all the abuse in the stadiums. It’s probably just frustration that has built up among fans of their particular driver who is not doing so well, or they don’t like me.

He further added, “I am not here to be liked and it’s not going to ruin my day. I am having a great time with my team.” 

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WATCH THIS STORY: Christian Horner Unhappy with 2022 Budget Cap, Calls for Urgent Attention

It’ll be interesting to see if this indefinite stand of boycotting the popular broadcasters will continue or the Red Bull will let go the comments.

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Written by:

Aditya Srivastava

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Aditya Srivastava is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Although he has completed his undergrad in History, due to his passion for the field, he couldn't hold himself back from entering the world of Sports Journalism. Being a huge fan of Formula 1, Aditya has taken up multiple internships and freelancing gigs where he got to pen down his thoughts about the most prestigious form of motor racing in the world.
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