Max Verstappen said it was “not my problem” if people took offense at the language used in his radio rant following his crash with Lance Stroll at FP2 in Portimao.
Verstappen and Stroll crashed at Turn 1 during the second practice session of the Portuguese Grand Prix on Friday afternoon after passing side by side in the corner.
Verstappen was left angry on team radio by the incident, prompting an angry reaction from the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen said, “Is that fucking guy blind? What’s wrong with him? Jesus Christ. What a ******. I have damage. What a Mongolian. I swear. “
The use of slurs has been criticized by Formula 1 fans on social media following the incident.
Asked about his choice of words that people might have offended, Verstappen replied, “It’s not my problem.”
This is not the first time Verstappen has come under fire for his language, after calling an FIA commissioner “Mongolian” at the 2017 US Grand Prix.
Verstappen later said he “didn’t mean anything bad” through his comment and “didn’t mean to hurt anyone”, having targeted his rant at Garry Connelly after losing a podium to a penalty kick.
Verstappen radio in its entirety
Verstappen: “Is that fucking guy blind? What’s wrong with him? Jesus Christ. What the *****. I got mess. What a Mongolian. I swear.”
Engineer: “OK. Red flags and reload, please.”
Verstappen: “He kisses his knees, I’m trying to prepare my knees, and he just kissed my knees by just opening the DRS and staying on the normal line. No respect. But yeah, whatever.” “
Verstappen and Stroll are currently with the FIA Stewards to discuss the incident, with the two drivers blaming each other.
“To be honest I don’t want to talk too much about it because I was very surprised,” said Verstappen.
“He just surrendered as I approach him. I don’t know where I should go.
“I was starting my turn, and he just finished his turn. We’ll see what happens. It’s FP2 and it’s just a shame that we touched. It was really unnecessary.”
