In an era where media plays a crucial role in shaping narratives and perceptions of F1 drivers, Max Verstappen has fallen victim to Drive to Survive’s portrayal of his image. Even some of the best in the paddock began to see him as a villain.
Laura Winter, a noted F1 presenter, approached Verstappen with caution when covering her first race at the 2019 Belgian GP weekend. She recalled how Drive to Survive had portrayed him as snarky in his responses to journalists and blunt in his media interactions.
Winter was nervous before doing stage interviews with Verstappen, as she admitted on the Red Flags podcast. Thankfully, the Red Bull driver broke her out of that illusion.
In fact, the way Verstappen behaved made the whole day quite memorable for Winter.
“He was the most professional, nicest guy, super welcoming. He just got the job done and that, I think, will stay with me,” Winter recalled.
Even though Verstappen has an aggressive attitude, he is a gentleman off the track — a fact many miss out, not just because of the media but also his on-track personality.
The cursing on the team radio, bickering with his race engineer, and not holding back his candid thoughts about an opponent — Verstappen can be intimidating to deal with. But he always keeps all these aspects of his racing mindset on the track.
Max: “I have a quick question, I appreciate you all being here but where is the British press? Do they have to run to the airport? Or do they not know where the press conference is?”
THE ENTIRE ROOM LAUGHING AFTERWARDS pic.twitter.com/R4Cx98zoEI
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) November 3, 2024
Winter further asserted just how nicely Verstappen has always behaved with her. “He’s super professional, really kind, warm, nice, friendly guy.”
As for Netflix’s portrayal of him as an antagonist in F1’s overarching storyline, Verstappen has had his complaints about the same. So much so that the Red Bull driver once boycotted the show and refused to feature in it.
Verstappen’s problems with Netflix
Verstappen was unhappy with how Netflix portrayed him in earlier seasons of Drive to Survive, leading him to decline interview requests for the series in 2022 and 2023. He felt he was unfairly depicted as the bad guy and criticized the show for overdramatizing the real-life F1 season.
There has also been a general sentiment that Drive to Survive tries to fabricate rivalries between drivers, such as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, who are actually great friends in real life. Verstappen naturally dislikes the made-up nature of the show, and his boycott was an attempt to curb this.
While the Dutchman is a ferocious competitor on the track, never giving an inch to his rivals, he knows how to separate his off-track life and demeanor from his aggressive racing battles. There has rarely been a moment when Verstappen has been rude or harsh toward media members.
Even when the FIA penalized him for swearing during the 2024 Singapore GP pre-race presser, the 27-year-old responded with monosyllabic answers in protest against the governing body. However, he made sure that all the journalists received detailed responses outside the press conference room.
