‘P***ing me off': Verstappen blows up at ‘childish' question about spicy F1 showdown
Max Verstappen was not in the mood to discuss the potential of his penalty-point ban after qualifying alongside George Russell on the front row of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Fireworks are expected for Monday morning's race after Russell took pole position ahead of Verstappen, setting the stage for a blockbuster showdown at the start in Montreal.
Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
This season Verstappen has known he isn't afraid to make a bold Turn 1 move and Russell could well find himself in the firing line as the Dutchman makes a dash for the lead.
Verstappen has been asked several times this weekend about whether he will change his driving style given the potential of a race ban following his clash with Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion was given three penalty points for making contact with Russell in the closing stages of the last race in Barcelona.
Verstappen has a total of 11 penalty points, with drivers handed a one-race ban if they rack up 12 penalty points on their Super Licence in a 12-month period.
Two of those points expire at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix, so he has two races to get through without a major incident before he's in the clear.
After qualifying second in Canada, Verstappen was not happy when he was again asked about the possibility of clashing with Russell and getting banned.
Verstappen cut off the moderator in the press conference with Russell and Oscar Piastri after qualifying before he could even finish his question about penalty points.
'I don't need to hear it again,' a frustrated Verstappen said.
'It's really p***ing me off. I mean, you speaking about it on Thursday, it's such a waste of time. It's very childish.
'That why I also don't want to say too much, because it's really annoying, this world that we live in.'
Verstappen not impressed with penalty points picture coming up in the post-qualy presser: "I don’t need to hear it again. It’s really pissing me off. You speaking about it, on Thursday, it’s such a waste of time. It’s childish. It’s really annoying." #F1 #CanadianGP
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) June 14, 2025
Verstappen visibly ticked off at the first question about penalty points and how he will race Russell.
“It’s already pissing me off. Very childish. Really annoying�.
— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) June 14, 2025
Verstappen was not exactly expansive in his other answers to questions in the press conference about his qualifying performance.
Russell joked after he secured pole position: 'We're mates, it's all good. I've got a few more points on my license to play with.'
The Brit later spoke in support of Verstappen: 'I don't think any driver goes out looking to crash into somebody and get penalty points on your license.
'Max is one of the best drivers. There's no reason for him to race any differently, and I'm not sitting here thinking he's going to give us more room.'
Russell is aiming for his first victory of the season after a solid start to the year that has seen the Mercedes driver finish on the podium four times.
The Canadian Grand Prix shapes as a thrilling race given the McLarens will have some work to do following a difficult qualifying session.
Australia's Oscar Piastri was pleased to have qualified third as he looks to extend his 10-point lead over teammate Lando Norris in the championship.
Piastri earned a public apology from former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg after the German earlier wrote him off.
'The driver with the most confidence out there is definitely Lando Norris,' Rosberg said on Sky Sports on Sunday morning.
'Oscar Piastri is completely away from it at the moment.'
Rosberg put his hand up and apologised as the dust was settling on the dramatic day.
'I apologise to him personally,' he said.
'I underestimated him. I made a mistake. He was definitely in the hunt for pole position.'
Piastri said after the session he was satisfied with a spot on the second row — but it was a complete disaster for teammate Norris.
Eyebrows were raised earlier in the day with Norris running with a new McLaren suspension system while Piastri remained on the previous system.
It didn't seem to make any difference for the English driver, who touched the wall in his final lap to finish Q3 down in seventh.
Leading F1 journalist Nate Saunders called Norris' qualifying failure a 'shocker'.
To add insult to injury, Norris was given a humiliating lesson by his race engineer during the session when things seemed to be unravelling for the 25-year-old.
'Concentrate on the braking points,' his race engineer said during Q3.
'Concentrating on the lines. Too much time in braking.'
After another lap he was also told: 'So Lando, let's just re-set and remember your braking references.
'Lando, primary focus this lap is line. Remember line. Don't overpush the brake.'
Norris was a downcast figure when interviewed after the session.
'Just too many mistakes,' he told Sky Sports.
'I hit the wall in the last lap. I had confidence, the car felt good today, I just made too many mistakes.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
37 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Kubica wins 'mental battle' to triumph at Le Mans
Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica has long since tackled the demons of a near-fatal accident 14 years ago but Sunday's victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is arguably his greatest achievement yet. The 40-year-old Pole roared to victory in his bright yellow "privateer" Ferrari to give the Italian marque a third consecutive win in the most famous endurance race in the world. In a thrilling 93rd edition of the race, which saw the top four separated by just over 20 seconds going into the final 15 minutes, Kubica and his AF Corse co-drivers Philip Hanson and Ye Yifei (#83) finished just 14.084sec ahead of a Porsche (#6) driven by Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor. In so doing they knocked the two factory Ferraris, who started the race as favourites, into third and fourth. "It's been a long 24 hours but an enjoyable one. Grazie mille, grazie a tutti," said Kubica over the team radio as he took the chequered flag. Kubica was one of Formula One's brightest prospects when he won the 2008 Canada Grand Prix but a harrowing accident in a rally in Andorra in 2011 almost cost him his life. Trapped upside down in his car before being freed and whisked to hospital, Kubica suffered several serious injuries and underwent a partial amputation of his right forearm. "What happened was very unfortunate, but I was very lucky," he said after Sunday's victory. "It took me quite a few years, not only to recover physically but also mentally. "What happened happened and I have to accept it. One of the worst periods of my life was when my mind wouldn't accept the fact that my arm was failing." He returned to racing cars, however, winning the WRC2 championship and taking part in sports car races. In 2017 he moved back into Formula One, testing for Renault before racing for Williams in 2019. - 'Greatest achievement' - But Sunday's win which made him the first Pole ever to win Le Mans tops any of his other achievements behind the wheel. "It was quite difficult to live with, but I'm happy to have achieved my personal goals," he said. "The best thing I've achieved in my life - it's nothing to do with racing - it's more the battle I won with my mind." Both of Kubica's co-drivers were also first-time winners with Ye the first Chinese driver to triumph. "I'm at a loss for words," said Ye who arrived in Le Mans at the age of 14 on an exchange programme to try and become a professional driver. "It's going to take me some time to realise everything that's happened today. Right now I feel like I'm dreaming. Maybe in two seconds I'll wake up and none of this will exist. "In China, the car industry has come a long way. When my father was my age, there were no cars on the roads, and we're talking about the 1990s. Becoming a professional driver was impossible." With three of the top four, it was certainly a good day for Ferrari but there will undoubtedly be some at headquarters in Maranello who might not be so happy. As the winning car was not entered directly by the manufacturer, but by the AF Corse team, Ferrari will not take the points for victory in the World Endurance Championship. Cadillac locked out the front row of the grid but #12 of Will Stephens, who had taken pole, had to settle for fifth with the second car (#38), featuring former Formula One world champion Jensen Button, coming home in eighth.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Formula 1 LIVE: Piastri starts third for Canadian Grand Prix, behind Russell and Verstappen
3.31am The Canadian Grand Prix: What you need to know, in a snapshot The 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is on the man-made Notre Dame Island in the middle of the St Lawrence River. It only came to host grand prix racing after it had served its original purpose as host of the Expo 67 World's Fair in 1967 and, later, the Montreal Olympics in 1976. It first hosted the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978 when, fittingly, Canadian star Gilles Villeneuve claimed his first win at the track that would end up bearing his name. Villeneuve, the father of 1997 world champion Jacques, was the runner-up in the 1979 world championship with Ferrari but died in a crash during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. He was just 32. His track is beloved by drivers up and down the grid, and it's not hard to see why, given how action-packed the fast, low-downforce circuit is. There's a mixture of high-speed straights and very slow and technical corners and chicanes, but it's very free-flowing – and picturesque, too, given its surrounds. You've probably heard of the most iconic section of the track – turn 14, or 'the Wall of Champions'. It's the name given to the wall alongside the track out of the final turn and leading up to the start-finish line after former world champions Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher made contact with it during the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix race weekend. Last year's winner: Max Verstappen in his Red Bull Overtakes completed last year: 83 (by contrast, there were just 17 at last year's Monaco Grand Prix) Most wins: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton (both seven) Lap record: 1m 13.078s, Valtteri Bottas in his Mercedes in 2019 Fun fact: The longest race in F1 history took place in Canada in 2011 – four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds. These days, Formula 1 has a three-hour window (from once a race starts) for the completion of a grand prix. 3.31am This race couldn't actually be about damage limitation for Oscar, could it? Championship leader Oscar Piastri stayed hopeful after a qualifying session that had McLaren team principal Andrea Stella talking of damage limitation in this morning's Canadian Grand Prix. The Australian will start from third on the grid with teammate Lando Norris, 10 points behind in the standings after nine of 24 races, back in seventh. Mercedes' George Russell took pole position and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, winner in Canada for the past three years, joined him on the front row in a repeat of 2024's qualifying top two at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. 'Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong,' Piastri, winner of five races this season and bidding to become the first Australian to take six in a single campaign, said in a press conference. 'These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight.' The scrappy qualifying session, a gift for those talking up bad blood between Russell and Verstappen after a headline clash in Spain between the pair, left McLaren off the pace for once. It was the first time Mercedes had taken pole this season. 'The picture changes completely for the race – that's what we have to focus on,' Stella told Sky Sports. 'I think in terms of race pace we should be a bit more comfortable, but let's see. This weekend could be one of damage limitation.' Norris will certainly have a battle on his hands to get onto the podium. '[I made] a couple of big mistakes, one hitting the wall on the last lap on the exit of turn seven and also the first lap at the final corner – mistakes that cost me,' he said. 'We have not been as quick as usual, and it was maybe not the car to take pole position, but it should have been enough for the top three. 'It is a very easy track to push 1% too much and pay the price, and that's what happened today. A podium will be tough because we don't have the pace we have had of the past few races.'
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Formula 1 LIVE: Piastri starts third for Canadian Grand Prix, behind Russell and Verstappen
Latest posts Latest posts 3.31am The Canadian Grand Prix: What you need to know, in a snapshot The 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is on the man-made Notre Dame Island in the middle of the St Lawrence River. It only came to host grand prix racing after it had served its original purpose as host of the Expo 67 World's Fair in 1967 and, later, the Montreal Olympics in 1976. It first hosted the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978 when, fittingly, Canadian star Gilles Villeneuve claimed his first win at the track that would end up bearing his name. Villeneuve, the father of 1997 world champion Jacques, was the runner-up in the 1979 world championship with Ferrari but died in a crash during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. He was just 32. His track is beloved by drivers up and down the grid, and it's not hard to see why, given how action-packed the fast, low-downforce circuit is. There's a mixture of high-speed straights and very slow and technical corners and chicanes, but it's very free-flowing – and picturesque, too, given its surrounds. You've probably heard of the most iconic section of the track – turn 14, or 'the Wall of Champions'. It's the name given to the wall alongside the track out of the final turn and leading up to the start-finish line after former world champions Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher made contact with it during the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix race weekend. Last year's winner: Max Verstappen in his Red Bull Overtakes completed last year: 83 (by contrast, there were just 17 at last year's Monaco Grand Prix) Most wins: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton (both seven) Lap record: 1m 13.078s, Valtteri Bottas in his Mercedes in 2019 Fun fact: The longest race in F1 history took place in Canada in 2011 – four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds. These days, Formula 1 has a three-hour window (from once a race starts) for the completion of a grand prix. 3.31am This race couldn't actually be about damage limitation for Oscar, could it? Championship leader Oscar Piastri stayed hopeful after a qualifying session that had McLaren team principal Andrea Stella talking of damage limitation in this morning's Canadian Grand Prix. The Australian will start from third on the grid with teammate Lando Norris, 10 points behind in the standings after nine of 24 races, back in seventh. Mercedes' George Russell took pole position and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, winner in Canada for the past three years, joined him on the front row in a repeat of 2024's qualifying top two at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. 'Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong,' Piastri, winner of five races this season and bidding to become the first Australian to take six in a single campaign, said in a press conference. 'These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight.' The scrappy qualifying session, a gift for those talking up bad blood between Russell and Verstappen after a headline clash in Spain between the pair, left McLaren off the pace for once. It was the first time Mercedes had taken pole this season. 'The picture changes completely for the race – that's what we have to focus on,' Stella told Sky Sports. 'I think in terms of race pace we should be a bit more comfortable, but let's see. This weekend could be one of damage limitation.' Norris will certainly have a battle on his hands to get onto the podium. '[I made] a couple of big mistakes, one hitting the wall on the last lap on the exit of turn seven and also the first lap at the final corner – mistakes that cost me,' he said. 'We have not been as quick as usual, and it was maybe not the car to take pole position, but it should have been enough for the top three. 'It is a very easy track to push 1% too much and pay the price, and that's what happened today. A podium will be tough because we don't have the pace we have had of the past few races.'
