F1 News
'Max walked by and said: 'Don't apologize for my language!''
- GPblog.com
After the qualification of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the press conference for the top three started. There Max Verstappen was immediately asked a question by F1-journalist Tom Clarkson about a possible new crash between the Dutchman and Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen clearly didn't like the question and Clarkson explains why he asked it.
The question that needed to be asked
Clarkson explains at the F1 Nation podcast his thought process. Because he thought the team bosses were fighting too much amongst themselves and that too little was heard from the drivers themselves. The press conference was the ideal place to ask both Verstappen and Hamilton. "I think it’s fair to talk about what might happen on the opening lap," he said.
"So I put the question to both of them. Except that I didn’t, because Max interrupts me and really tells me to F off," said Clarkson. Verstappen was clearly fed up with the question several times during the press conferences.
Verstappen only very briefly angry
"I did upset him. And then, because he was F-ing and all that I thought: I better apologize for that", Clarkson continues. But an apology while Verstappen was still upset didn't seem the right time for the journalist. So he waited until a later moment after the press conference. "So at the and I go: I just like to apologize for some of the language. And as I was saying that Max walked past me and said: ‘Don’t apologize for my language!’”
"The thing about Max is, he does blow up quite easily but then it defuses quite quickly. Always with him." Verstappen wasn't angry for long this time either, as he walked out of the room saying: "I know it's not your fault, Tom!"