Max Verstappen clearly feels targeted by certain sections of the British media.
Max Verstappen used his post-race press conference after a sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory to launch a sarcastic attack on the British media.
The Dutchman is on the verge of winning a fourth F1 world title after a mesmerising drive in the wet at Interlagos on Sunday.
Verstappen begun the year way out in front of everybody else, but his winning run ended in June after the Spanish Grand Prix
He’s had to watch on as six other drivers picked up victories over a 10-race period and it looked extremely unlikely Verstappen was going to break that run in Brazil.
Verstappen already had a five-place grid penalty to contend with for taking a new engine and his Sunday was made even tougher when he failed to get out of Q2 due to a red flag ending the session early
It meant Verstappen started the race in 17th, but he perfectly navigated an incident-strewn and wet race for one of the greatest F1 victories of all time.
The 27-year-old was in a league of his own while title rival Lando Norris was unable to find an answer.
The result came in the same week where Verstappen faced some tough criticisms following the Mexican Grand Prix, where he was heavily penalised for forcing Norris off the track on two separate occasions.
Damon Hill questioned whether Verstappen was capable of ‘racing fairly’ while Martin Brundle felt the Red Bull driver was ‘tainting his legacy’.
Verstappen bit back earlier in the week, stating he holds the ‘wrong passport for this paddock’.
And he took an opportunity to hit out at his critics once again during the post-race press conference on Sunday evening.
“I have a quick question here,” he began.
“I mean, I appreciate all of you being here, but I don’t see any British press.
“They had to run to the airport? Or they don’t know where the press conference is?”
Alpine duo Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly chuckled at Verstappen’s cheeky remark with the latter adding: “That’s a fair question! That’s a fair question.”
Verstappen will be able to clinch his fourth consecutive world title in Las Vegas this weekend if he finishes ahead of Norris.
To keep the championship race open for at least one more week, Norris must outscore Verstappen by three points.
