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Verstappen dominates the top five F1 press conference moments in 2020
The Formula 1 season had 17 weekends, giving a total of 51 press conferences in 2020. The big difference with the previous seasons was that all drivers made their appearance on Thursday due to the coronavirus. From all press conferences, GPblog has selected a top five of the most striking moments. Max Verstappen will of course come by several times.
1. Bottas is swapped with Hamilton
During the Imola Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas managed to beat his teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying. In the press conference afterwards, however, the interviewer on duty forgets that it was not the Brit, but Bottas who had set the fastest time. The blunder can count on applause and a thumbs up from Max Verstappen.
— media (@tmgnorris) October 31, 2020
2. Verstappen prepares to be team boss
After Romain Grosjean's horror crash in Bahrain, the discussion flared up in the press conference about whether drivers can decide for themselves whether they want to take action after such an accident. Max Verstappen, however, has a clear opinion on this subject: "If someone did not take action and I was the team boss, I would have said: you will never sit in that chair again."
3. Max keeps his word
We saw Max Verstappen back in third place very often during the 2020 season and in one of the press conferences the ten-time Grand Prix winner jokingly said that he has a subscription to the seat of P3. He promised to take the chair home at the end of the season and so it came to pass.
4. Vettel does not use the word 'Aston Martin'
Rumours of a switch from Sebastian Vettel to Aston Martin increased during the year. The four-time world champion was even asked about his favourite car from all the James Bond films. Bond usually drives Aston Martin, but Vettel refuses to mention the name of the British car brand.
5. Verstappen is still waiting for Russell's topless selfie
It is well known in Formula 1 that George Russell is not averse to sometimes posting topless selfies on social media. George Russell replaced Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and that was reason enough for Verstappen to ask then-teammate Alexander Albon: "Did George send you a topless selfie in Mercedes overalls?". Albon's reaction after that says enough!