David Coulthard asks why the FIA hasn't said anything about the incident with Max Verstappen and a journalist in Japan

David Coulthard a former Formula 1 driver was surprised that the FIA didn't punish Max Verstappen after the four time champion kicked a British journalist out of a media session at the Japanese Grand Prix.

During a Red Bull hospitality media session at Suzuka Verstappen flat out refused to start until the journalist left the room. The Dutchman was upset because of something that happened at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which was the last race of the season. Verstappen lost the championship to Lando Norris by just two points.

Giles Richards of The Guardian asked Verstappen about a crash he had with George Russell earlier in the season that might have changed his place in the standings. You forget everything else that happened during my season. You only talk about Barcelona. Verstappen said at the time I knew that would happen."You're making me smile like an idiot now. I don't know. Yes that's what racing is all about. You learn as you go. There are 24 rounds in the championship. In the second half I've also gotten a lot of early Christmas gifts, so you can question that too.

Coulthard talked about Verstappen's actions during the Up To Speed podcast."I see it this way: Max probably won't feel good about it later because, even though he's right, you don't have to answer the question. It's not normal to ask someone to leave that environment," the former driver said.And I'm a little surprised that the FIA didn't take a stand on it. There was nothing that looked like a punishment to me because if he said the word "shit" in there, he would have been fined.

He went on to say "The only thing I can compare it to is when I was racing. I never won the world championships like Max has, but I was definitely open to some criticism from different journalists."And it's hard not to feel bad about it. I know you don't read the comments on some of the social media sites because some people love you and some people don't, and that's just how it is.I did get some criticism, and there was always an underlying, let's say, if they were questioning my ability to qualify, it was a fair question.

But of course it wasn't easy to hear the same question over and over again. Some journalists would be much more dismissive though. And as journalists they have the right to say what they see. But it's hard not to take it personally. And none of the drivers are free from that.

Kimi Antonelli is getting all the praise right now. All of it. People love him. And if people still do that these days, his mom will get newspaper clippings. But even though he's getting a lot of praise right now, he'll get a lot of criticism in the future, especially if he makes mistakes.I remember one journalist saying, "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 he clearly thought I was just making excuses all the time.But I didn't see it that way. But I might have been too defensive. I talked to that reporter, we made up, and then we moved on. But it's hard to deal with that public criticism.