Max Verstappen hasn’t been subdued at all regarding his criticism of the Las Vegas GP and the show surrounding it. While most people appreciated the Dutchman for being straightforward, fellow racer Kevin Magnussen spoke up against him, asking him to keep his opinions to himself. This has now evoked a response from Verstappen, who believes that everyone should have the right to criticize, as per GPFans.
Magnussen claimed that while it is okay to have an opinion, Verstappen should keep his opinion to himself. The Danish driver had claimed that the huge salaries that get credited to the drivers are mostly because of these off-the-track antics and therefore, Verstappen should be grateful.
💥 Kevin Magnussen se cansa de las quejas de Max Verstappen: “Guárdate tus opiniones”.
👉 “Tenemos salarios bastante buenos y vivimos una buena vida, así que tal vez deberíamos mostrar un poco más de aprecio”.
[@racefansdotnet]#F1 pic.twitter.com/dUjjJ31bS0
— Fórmula Directa (@FormulaDirecta) November 22, 2023
However, Verstappen believes otherwise and recently snapped back at the Haas driver for his comments. In an interview with The Telegraph, the Red Bull driver said, “It’s always very easy to say: ‘You can’t complain. Look how much money you make. Who gives a f*** about how much money you make? It’s about saying what you think and what you think is right or is necessary to take care of the sport.”
He added that he will always be straightforward with his opinion regardless of how much he earns. Verstappen also believes that everyone has the right to speak their mind and people should be able to handle criticism because that is the only way they can improve.
Max Verstappen asked to tone down his criticism by many people
Magnussen isn’t the only one, however, who thought that Verstappen was being too harsh on the Las Vegas GP. Sky Sports F1 analysts Martin Brundle and Jenson Button had also spoken out against the constant criticism by the Red Bull driver.
Button had explained that the job portfolio of an F1 driver does not only consist of racing but quite a lot of other activities as well. He explained that the majority of the money comes in from these activities and there’s no reason for Verstappen to bad-mouth the Las Vegas GP organizers for putting on the show.
A huge collection of Max Verstappen’s remarks about the Las Vegas GP👇
On the Las Vegas track:
“Monaco, I think, is Champion’s League. This is (the) National League.”On the Las Vegas GP:
“It’s 99% show, 1% sporting event”On Toto Wolff:
“I think if it was his car, then he… pic.twitter.com/Tc2fvDF0yZ— Dan’s DRS Zone (@F1GuyDan) November 18, 2023
Even Dr. Helmut Marko himself warned Verstappen to tone down his criticism a bit. The Red Bull patriarch revealed that he was afraid of the 3x World Champion upsetting the sponsors. Marko said, “Max is not into PR stuff. But eighty percent of our sponsors come from here.”
Verstappen was also labelled a hypocrite at the end of the Las Vegas GP after he celebrated his win by singing Viva Las Vegas on the radio along with his team. In fact he was also wearing a special Elvis themed race suit, which also added fuel to the fire.
