Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen has defended his father, ex-F1 driver Jos Verstappen, after Jos was heavily criticised on social media.
Jos’ reaction to Sergio Perez winning the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was a leading story following the previous round, after live footage showed the Dutchman standing next to Perez whilst the 33-year-old was celebrating with his mechanics.
Based on the live cameras, Jos was seen looking incredibly unhappy, with him having stared into the distance.
As a result, he was criticised for not congratulating his son’s team-mate; however, footage was later seen on social media where he did congratulate the Mexican.
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Verstappen was quick to note ahead of this weekend that his father’s reaction was “normal” given that he isn’t part of Perez’s crew and is ultimately there to support his son.
The Red Bull driver criticised the media for “showing the wrong images” to try and paint a bad picture of his father but that ultimately, himself and his dad “are not concerned” with the likes of Twitter.
“My dad is my biggest fan,” Verstappen explained. “I don’t like to lose and neither does he. That’s how we grew up.
“They are now only showing the wrong images again. Checo gets out of his car and then it is quite normal that he first wants to celebrate with his mechanics.
“My father is not one of them but happened to be next to it. Then I think it’s only normal that he doesn’t jump in there like an idiot.
“If some people want to see it differently, so be it. The point is that we are concerned with ourselves and not what the Twitter world thinks of it.”
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Verstappen does head into the Albert Park Circuit this weekend with a one-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship after claiming the fastest lap at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, something he achieved o the final lap.
The double World Champion has interestingly never won in Melbourne before, in fact, his best result at the Australian GP is third.
He’ll be hoping to add a first-place trophy in Australia to his rapidly growing collection this weekend.