After Sky F1’s Craig Slater brought up the “controversy around British bias” as “Max perceived”, it was put to him that Verstappen’s achievements are never played down.

That was the verdict coming from Slater’s Sky F1 colleague Naomi Schiff, who spoke of the “magic” which Verstappen produces at the wheel of a Formula 1 car.

Max Verstappen ‘efforts are always recognised’

Verstappen found himself attracting stern criticism from the likes of 1996 World Champion and ex-Sky F1 pundit Damon Hill, as well as pundit and former steward Johnny Herbert, following on-track altercations with 2024 title rival Lando Norris, the height of said criticism coming after the Mexican GP where Verstappen picked up 20 seconds’ worth of time penalties.

This led to multiple instances where Verstappen and his father Jos alluded to ‘bias’ in the British media as he battled British driver Norris, ultimately seeing off the McLaren racer to secure a remarkable fourth World Championship in a row.

“There was a bit of controversy around British bias,” Sky F1’s Craig Slater began. “That’s what Max perceived, perhaps the British media had against him and maybe in favour of Lando.

“Those incidents last year were replayed and replayed over and over again… Should we still recognise the great achievement that Max did, winning a championship without the quickest car? Is he going to have to do the same thing again this year, do you sense, if he is to win it?”

Schiff – also a pundit for Sky F1 – believes there has not been a point where Verstappen’s talents are brushed under the carpet.

“Well, first of all, I think his efforts are always recognised,” she said in response to Slater. “I don’t think there’s any doubt ever about the magic that Max creates when he’s in a race car.

“He’s got a supernatural talent, and I think he got so much out of that Red Bull that wasn’t even there. He drew every little second out of that car, every little millisecond out of it, and really put on a performance that was truly super respectable.”

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With Verstappen’s feedback after a challenging Italian Grand Prix regarded as a key step in Red Bull’s road to recovery, the team has looked to iron out the RB20’s balance flaws with their new creation, the RB21.

However, while Verstappen had the luxury of a healthy points buffer last time around after his dominant start to 2024, that may not be the case in F1 2025, with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all joining Red Bull in harbouring title ambitions.

“But of course, this year is going to be different,” Schiff continued.

“No Adrian Newey, for example, although Adrian is going to be working very hard at Aston to get that car a little bit quicker.

“But it’s going to be a different playing field starting off this season, for sure.”

Hill recently offered his blunt take on the whole ‘British bias’ debate, accusing Red Bull of “unfairly” using it as a tactic against Sky F1.

“Red Bull fight their corner very forcefully,” Hill claimed when speaking to The Telegraph. “And they don’t like criticism of Max. And they didn’t like, particularly, some of the things that were said.

“On the whole they’ve always taken the view that Sky are British-centric and biased, which is really unfair I think. Actually, I think there is a desire [the other way]. I don’t think Sky want to be accused of being biased at all. I think they want to be a fair broadcaster of the sport – credit where credit’s due and all that.

“They also do not want to be denied access to a very important figure in this sport.

“And I think Red Bull know that, and they apply pressure if they need to.

“I like Max. What I don’t like is jingoism. And I don’t like the fact that it became a ‘You’re against us because we’re not British’ and all that nonsense, which was used as a way of pressuring us. It’s utterly unfair to suggest that there is any kind of anti-Dutch thing going on. What can you do? I thought I was there to express my opinion.”

The F1 2025 campaign gets underway in Melbourne next weekend, the Australian Grand Prix kicking-off proceedings on March 16.

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