“He Means Business”: Max Verstappen’s Sore Loser Image Shattered by Sergio Perez With a Sportsman-Like Confession

What’s that saying again? ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.’ Max Verstappen has won two World championships putting in gutsy moves and getting his elbows out. Simply put, he got down and dirty, running wheel to wheel with people. He’s fought drivers hard his entire career and the other drivers put up with his yield-or-we-crash approach. But when he lost and got the taste of defeat, he didn’t let it go without a fight. These aggressive actions and his inability to accept defeat were heavily criticized, bringing him a ‘sore loser’ image. 

Even at this year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen’s actions towards his teammate Sergio Perez were of a similar attitude. While Sergio Perez won from the pole, Max Verstappen surged from 15th place to give Red Bull a 1-2 finish. However, the 25-year-old didn’t look happy with the results and commented: “Not here to be second.” This led to a backlash against Verstappen, and Nico Rosberg joined the chorus, suggesting the Red Bull star should ‘be more gracious’. However, Sergio Perez does not agree that Verstappen is a ‘bad loser’. 

In the Pardon My Take podcast, where both Red Bull Racing drivers were guests, Verstappen’s attitude was brought up. Standing up for his teammate, Perez said, as quoted by F1Maximaal, “When I’ve won he always comes up to me and says, well done! I really appreciate that, because it is not obvious that teammates are like that within Formula 1. You can really see that he means business.”

Read more: “The Trophy Will Still Be Yours”: Sergio Perez Urged to Go Out of His Way Against Max Verstappen Despite Potential Extreme Red Bull Consequences

However, this is not the only time the 2x champion was labeled as a ‘sore loser’. Verstappen’s ‘hypocrisy’ was called out again in the recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

Max Verstappen’s hypocrisy exposed after his furious argument with George Russell

One of the highlights of the Azerbaijan sprint race was the coming together of the defending champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell. During the race, Russell tried to overtake Verstappen’s Red Bull on the inside, but the world champion tried to hold position around the outside. As a result, the pair collided, damaging Verstappen’s sidepod and preventing him from challenging teammate Sergio Perez for victory.  

After the race, Russell tried to defend himself stating that it was a racing incident, but the Red Bull driver paid no heed. Instead, he lashed out at the Mercedes driver and called him a ‘d**khead’. Following this incident, fans were quick to highlight his hypocrisy and called him a ‘sore loser’ yet again.

Watch this story: George Russell Sends a Feisty Response to Max Verstappen’s D**khead Jibe in Azerbaijan

Clearly, Max Verstappen has a lot of work to do on his loser game.