Formula One: Max Verstappen regrets but stands by ‘idiot’ remark

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen regrets but stands by his remark in which he called one of the Formula One race stewards an idiot.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, 20, started the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas back in 16th place after qualifying in 6th because of a penalty he had incurred for going over the allotted engine amount. However, that did not stop him from making progress in the 17th Formula One race of the 2017 season.

With one lap remaining in the race, Verstappen was in 4th place and quickly closing in on Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. With just a couple more corners to go until crossing the finish line, Verstappen made a bold pass on Raikkonen by going up and over the curb to take 3rd. You can see that pass here.

Verstappen took the checkered flag in 3rd place and was ready to take his spot on the podium when the race stewards announced that his pass on Raikkonen was illegal, and he was given a five-second penalty because of it, forcing him to finish in 4th while Raikkonen claimed the third and final podium spot.

This decision did not go over well with the young Dutchman, and for good reason. He proceeded to call one of the race stewards an “idiot” while saying that penalties such as the one he incurred “kill the sport”.

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"“We had a really great race, but with those stupid decisions you really kill the sport. It’s one idiot steward up there which always makes decisions against me. At the end of the day everybody is running wide everywhere, there are no track limits. At Turn 9 you can run wide, at Turn 19 you can go off the track and nobody will say anything.”“It’s the same with [Valtteri] Bottas – I went for a move, and he continued outside the track; he came back, I really had to pass him, and nothing has been done against that while he definitely gained advantage. It’s not good for the sport – they have to be really clear on the rules that it’s not allowed.”"

Now nearly a week later, Verstappen says he regrets his word choice, but he stands by the message he was trying to get across through his comments.

"“I think after a race the emotions run high, especially when you’ve been taken off a podium, which I think I deserved. I think the punishment was not correct because everybody was running off the track in turn 19, 8 and 9 0 — even in turn 6 when you were behind someone you were cutting the inside, a lot of cars were doing it.”“Also the fans, I think, were loving it. It was a great move and then they tell you that you’re gaining an advantage while overtaking someone. If I was really gaining an advantage, I would do it every single lap, which you are not, so I don’t think it was gaining an advantage.”“Like I said, a lot of other people did it, as well. They were cutting the inside of the corners and then I am the only one who was getting penalized, which I think is, of course, not correct. I could have used different words, for sure.”“But like I also said I was angry at that time because I think it was not correct, and I’ve already said all the reasons why I think it was not correct. So you also have to understand a bit my point of it, but, of course, the words were not correct. I can’t change that right now, and it was not meant for anyone. I was not trying to offend anyone. Otherwise I would have named them by name if I wanted to offend someone.”"

Next: Looking back at Lewis Hamilton's record-setting accomplishment

Max Verstappen is currently on a hot streak of three straight top 4 official finishes (and technically three straight top 3 finishes) including a win in Malaysia and a 2nd place finish in Japan. How will he respond to this controversy in this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix? Tune into NBC on Sunday at 3:00 PM ET to find out.