Max Verstappen slammed as ‘disrespectful’ for bad-tempered radio rant

Max Verstappen has been labelled as “disrespectful” after he repeatedly criticised his car and Red Bull team over the radio during the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The three-time world champion let his frustrations spill over with a series of angry and expletive-laden radio messages towards his team on his way to finishing a disappointing sixth in Sunday’s race in Budapest.

Verstappen criticised the performance of his RB20, took aim at Red Bull’s strategy, and complained about driving standards following a first-corner incident with Lando Norris, and a separate, late-race collision with Lewis Hamilton.

After the race the Dutchman refused to apologise for his language over team radio, something which did not impress Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff.

“I’m just thinking about what Max said there about ‘staying home’, I don’t know if he’s referring to the team members or the fans,” Schiff said during Sky’s coverage. “But I find that quite a disrespectful message.

“He’s got to remember there’s no I in team and whilst he’s their top driver and they always put him forward, he’s got to remember there’s loads of people behind him to put these results together.

“On a day like today, sometimes you need to keep the team on your side and if you talk to people like that, and say things like that, you get them off-side.”

Schiff, a former W Series driver, added: “I know GP’s [Lambiase] been getting a lot of incoming from Max in the past and they’ve always said that’s the relationship they have and that’s fine.

“But there might be other people who are on that radio who are also listening, who are part of this team, who don’t like being spoken to like that.

“I don’t think it’s cool. I know as a driver when you’ve got your helmet on, it’s a heated environment. Footballers don’t have microphones on their shirts and I’m sure if we heard them and their thoughts, we’d hear a lot of colourful words.

“But in this sport, you do have a radio mic that’s going out to the whole world, all your fans, including kids.”