Max Verstappen to Critics: ‘Turn the Volume Down’ on Foul-Mouthed Radio Rants

Max Verstappen advises those who criticize his use of strong language during radio communications to simply "lower the volume."

"If people don't appreciate my choice of words, they should just not listen and turn the volume down," he said.

Max Verstappen has staunchly defended his heated comments over the F1 team radio during the Hungarian Grand Prix, advising critics to simply "not listen" and "lower the volume."

During a challenging race at the Hungaroring, Verstappen frequently expressed his frustrations over the team radio.

The Dutch driver experienced several uncomfortable interactions with his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, as Verstappen managed to secure only a fifth-place finish on the track.

Verstappen's behavior over team radio has been called into question by Sky Sports analysts Naomi Schiff and Martin Brundle.

As expected, Verstappen has responded to the criticism.

While speaking in Belgium, where Crash.net has a presence in the paddock, he mentioned: "If people don't appreciate my language, they can simply choose not to listen or mute the volume. My dedication to success is well-documented, and I'm consistently focused on improving things. Some may argue that I'm not very outspoken on the radio, but that's just their perspective."

"In my view, it should have been mentioned right then and there to perhaps influence the second pit stop to turn out differently. That's just the way it is."

"We maintain an open-minded approach and frequently critique one another, which has proven effective for us. Therefore, I anticipate this dynamic will continue unchanged."

Verstappen thinks that people globally are overly sensitive to criticism and insists that he will not alter his attitude towards it.

He stated, "This is our method. I believe it's essential to be able to handle criticism. Nowadays, it seems many people struggle to accept criticism as they once did, and I don't want to become like that."

Formula 1 stands out by airing the conversations between drivers and their teams, a feature not commonly found in most sports.

Verstappen emphasizes that he will keep expressing his opinions freely.

"In other sports, athletes often make comments, but they aren't usually wearing microphones," he clarified.

"In a sense, when it comes to broadcasting, you might think, 'I don't mind, I'll speak my mind,' but that's just the nature of our sport. We communicate frequently with the pit wall and have the chance to express ourselves. In other sports, you might curse under your breath if something goes wrong, like a teammate not passing the ball, and no one would hear it because there’s no microphone. That's just how our sport operates, I suppose."

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