'He has been unfairly demonized' - Adrian Newey believes Max Verstappen deserves more appreciation

Adrian Newey in a recent interview said that Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are not fully appreciated by outsiders and have been demonised especially by the British media Sky Sports which is the official broadcast partner of Formula 1 races. 

Recently the legendary car designer moved from Red Bull Racing to Aston Martin Aramco F1 as managing technical partner. He was banked for 20 million euros a year with add-ons up to 30 million euros. He will also own a stake in the team. 

‘Unfairly Demonized’ by the British Media

Newey feels Verstappen is unfairly portrayed by the F1 coverage media. He also claimed Sebastian Vettel was treated the same as Max by ‘Nationalistic’ Formula 1 television coverage by Sky when winning for Red Bull. 

He said, “From the outside, I’m not sure people fully appreciate and understand Max, just like they didn’t with Sebastian, There’s this sort of demonization both of them suffered at times, which is very unfair.” Adrian says “Nowadays it's typical with journalism, media will either put people on a pedestal or knock them down.” He also feels that Sky Sports has more international influence but their coverage is quite nationalistic.

Controversy erupted during the F1 2021 Season finale in Abudhabi where the FIA mishandled the safety car restart which changed the outcome of the world championship that year. Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the final lap of that race and won his first world title whereas Lewis Hamilton lost his chance to become the 8-time world champion.

After the race media and critics were all over Max and Red Bull for controversially winning the world championship. Adrian says Verstappen is not arrogant, but he is very self-assured and self-confident, and he's a deep thinker.” Max Verstappen is now a three-time world champion and he will be hoping to win the title for the fourth time this year. 

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