David Coulthard questions FIA silence after Max Verstappen journalist incident in Japan

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard was surprised that the FIA did not reprimand Max Verstappen after the four-time champion ejected a British journalist from a media session at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The incident at Suzuka took place during a Red Bull hospitality media session, when Verstappen bluntly refused to start until the journalist left the room. The Dutchman's frustration had stemmed from an exchange at the 2025 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when Verstappen lost out on the championship to Lando Norris by just two points.

The journalist, Giles Richards of The Guardian, had questioned Verstappen about a collision he had with George Russell earlier in the season that could have affected his position in the standings. "You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come," Verstappen responded at the time.

"You’re giving me a stupid grin now. I don’t know. Yeah, it’s part of racing at the end. You live and learn. The championship is one of 24 rounds. I’ve also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half, so you can also question that."

Discussing the moment during the Up To Speed podcast, Coulthard weighed in on Verstappen's actions. 

"Well, I see it this way, it's probably not something that on reflection Max will feel good about because even though he's absolutely right, you don't have to answer the question, it is unusual to ask somebody to leave from that environment," the former driver said.

"And I'm actually a little bit surprised the FIA didn't take a stance on it. I didn't see anything that there was any sort of reprimand because basically if he was to say the word s**t in there, he'd get fined."

David Coulthard on the grid during the Sprint

Photo by: Dom Gibbons / LAT Images via Getty Images

He added: "I can only liken it to when I was racing, and I never won the world championships that Max has, of course, but I was definitely open to some criticism from various journalists.

"And it's very difficult not to take it personally. So I'm sure you don't look at the comments on some of the social feeds because there'll be some who love you and there'll be some that just don't like you, and that's the way it is.

"So I certainly did get some criticism, and there was always an underlying, let's say, if they were questioning my qualifying ability, it was a fair question, but of course it wasn't easy to be asked the same question time and time again.

"And some journalists would be a lot more dismissive. And it is their right as a journalist to say what they see. But it is difficult not to take it personally. And none of the drivers are exempt from that.

"And right now, Kimi Antonelli is getting all of the praise. Everything. Everyone loves him. And his mum will be getting cutouts from newspapers if people still do that nowadays. But as sure as he's being praised right now, he'll get criticised at some point in the future, especially if he makes some mistakes.

"I remember one journalist writing that 'David has an amazing ability to talk about the incident as if he wasn't driving the car at the time'. And it really shocked me because clearly he thought I was just making excuses all the time.

"But I didn't see it that way. But maybe I was being overdefensive, and I spoke to that journalist, and we made peace and moved on. But it is tough to take that public criticism."