Tyson Fury hits out at F1 media for Verstappen pile-on
Dec.8 - British boxing star Tyson Fury has hit out at the media for depicting Max Verstappen as the "bad boy" of Formula 1.
Indeed, in the days before the hugely-anticipated 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, the headlines are full of predictions of a deliberate title-deciding crash.
"Verstappen is cut from the same cloth as the young Schumacher," former F1 driver Christian Danner told Bild.
However, he said race officials are unlikely to allow any deliberately unfair actions against Lewis Hamilton to go unpunished.
"I would say the risk of a crash is therefore 49 percent," said Danner.
But according to Verstappen's own boss and father, the possibility of such a crash is there.
"I don't think it will happen," said Jos Verstappen, "but Max will absolutely do everything to beat Hamilton and win. That's for sure."
Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko says: "I hope that scenario (a crash) does not happen."
Highly experienced British ex-driver and commentator Martin Brundle says the fact that Verstappen ever resorts to questionable tactics is "sad".
"For all his outwardly carefree attitude, it will be such a shame if his legacy is to be labelled as an unfair driver," he said.
"Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher had their faults too, and I was on the receiving end from both of them on occasions, but it's a sizeable dent on their immense reputations, not a positive."
Others are even more scathing of Verstappen, with BBC sports commentator Sulaiman Folarin calling the Dutchman a "bad sportsman" for walking off the podium last Sunday.
Former Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin believes the 24-year-old took a "win at any cost" attitude to Saudi Arabia.
"He understood that even a collision with Hamilton would be a better outcome for him than coming second," he told the SMP Racing press service.
As far as Tyson Fury is concerned, however, he believes he is witnessing a media pile-on in the days before the most important weekend of Verstappen's career.
"I've just been reading up about how Max is being made out to be a bit of a bad boy in the media," he said, likening the fight to James Hunt vs Niki Lauda.
"I know how it feels to be treated horribly by the media," said Fury. "It's not nice, especially when you are young and ambitious and want to win.
"Give him a bit of a break - he's only a young lad trying his best."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
My opinion is that the media and Lewis fans are so shocked with the realisation that somebody could actually beat him, even with a lesser car, that they have to line up a story well ahead of time to discredit Max should that happen.
Lewis had his crashes, notably screwing up Albon's F1 career and there was no-one say a word.
Let's see what happens... But I would not expect either driver to give the other one big breaks...
Totally agree. Lewis didn't had to crash into Max. There was enough space to pass. What racer does not take over when the car in front of you slows down and leave more than enough space to take over. the fact that LH did not take over but decided to crash into Max is very suspicious the least. It was well calculated.
Oh poor Max. Bleeding hearts of the world unite. đ
That's the JAX spirit...
My opinion is that the media and Lewis fans are so shocked with the possibility of someone beating him, even with a lesser car, that they have to line up a story well ahead of time should that happen.
I wish them well, but I don't expect that either will give to other one big breaks.
Let's see what happens. F1 is full of surprises...
"I don't think it will happen," said Jos Verstappen, "but Max will absolutely do everything to beat Hamilton and win. That's for sure."
Way to go, Jos, throw wood on a burning house.
As for this guy Tyson Fury, whoever that is, the last sentence quote says it all. So are LEC, NOR, SAI, GAS, OCO, RUS, etc. "young lads trying their best". What's his point?
Not a boxing fan , but do have to admire his boxing record
Former Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin believes the 24-year-old took a "win at any cost" attitude to Saudi Arabia.
Twenty one (21) starts, one (1) point... that's the lose at all costs that could make F1 so great.
We're on to something with these genius mind readers!!!
Sirotkin was certainly not a WDC protagonist but there have to be backmarkers for there to be front runners Many of us would give our left nut to have scored 1 point in F1. And yes, ANY experienced racer can "read the mind" of another driver.
I donât give him a break because of how low his driving standards have been in recent events.
The last race especially showed this side.
I know people will disagree and yes Max has driven to the extreme but Hamilton hasn't been perfect either hitting Verstappen at Silverstone and having a part to play last race but the problem is change max to British Hamilton Dutch the narrative would be completely different the British media have been bad in the past and right now use pure bullying than criticism shown the British biased
Yep, the Skyguys love their knight. The rest of us have to realize that England is the mother of F1 and open- wheeled racing in general and give them a bit of broadcasting slack, but the anti-max stuff is overdone. IMO, Croft, Kravitz, Brundle and Herbert should all be put in a ring with Mr. Fury.
not just SKY heres how the BBC are fully behind Hamilton aswell
LEWIS HAMILTON was handed a boost in his hopes of securing a hat-trick of BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards - with the shortlist reveal delayed until after the Formula One finale.
He goes into the final race of the season level on points with Max Verstappen and knows victory in Abu Dhabi would guarantee the title.
And completing the stunning comeback to pip his rival would also place him among the favourites to win SPOTY in 2021.
According to the Daily Mail, the nominees will be revealed in the week of the live show in Salford on December 19.
That is a shift from the usual unveiling either in the last week of November or the first week of December.
Oh and Max has been nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year World Sports Star Award later in December. just to throw something else into the pot
Of course Sir Lewis is the British Sports Personality Of The Year. Crikey, he's a knight for heaven's sake. God I love England.
An unusual amount of sarcasm coming from you Ror today i see , and rightly so...lol
About set to begin watching 9 hrs of 'The Joust in Sandland', a new ESPN mini series. Then I get to read a diesel imbued review of the whole show.
How could I be anything but happy?
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.