Max Verstappen gave a finger to a fan at the end of the pitlane in F1 Imola GP qualifying, as McLaren pair also note of the fan.
In the Ferrari land, it is expected for other teams and drivers to face the heat. It is no different at other venues as well where home favourites are always greeted and their rivals put down albeit the respect side is still there for most apart from few.
The Ferrari homeland in Imola was no different. An incident was brought to light post the qualifying on Saturday where Red Bull’s Verstappen revealed giving a middle finger from the car to a fan stood in the paddock club towards the end of the pitlane.
The incident seemingly took place at the start of Q2 near the pit exit. Verstappen was not the only one to spot the fan as both the McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri too sported him where the Australian was greeted otherwise by him too.
All the three drivers understand that fans are like that and they don’t take as much offence, considering that they do have fans who greet them well too. Verstappen noted that the fan was clapping for him when he came around the second time.
Verstappen: “Honestly, it’s been great. And actually, I had a funny story in qualifying where we were driving in the pits…”
Piastri: “You saw him too?”
Verstappen: “A lot of people were clapping. Then one guy, he was doing some different things to me, so I gave him the finger. And then the next time I came around, he was clapping. So, you know, they learn. You know, it’s easy to be not nice to drivers, but I can also be not nice to you, you know! So, luckily he was a bit higher up. But it’s good. After that, I guess he appreciated it. But, you know, the fans in general here are very passionate. They love motorsport. Of course, naturally, there’s more support for Ferrari here, but that’s absolutely fine. You know, they have a massive fan base. And, yeah, Italy loves motorsport. Go-karting as well, you know, when we grew up. I mean, it’s really fantastic.”
Piastri: “Yeah, I saw the same guy, I think. He wasn’t giving me the finger, but he was giving me the thumbs down. But he was clapping for you. Wow. Did you sign with Ferrari or something? Is there something we don’t know? I don’t know. I mean, it’s cool. I think in all sports, a little bit of giving the opposition some stick is always good fun, I think, and part of sport. Of course, there’s always a limit to that. But I think this is what sport can be about. Sometimes, you know, you look at all the football rivalries and stuff like this, there’s always so much passion on both sides. And I think the Ferrari fans are, you know, the epitome of passionate fans. They’ve been very welcoming this weekend.
“Maybe not from a distance in the pit lane, but you know, they’ve been very passionate. And you know, these are the kind of fans that that we love in F1. For me, coming here, it’s my first time racing here and it’s been very special but always Monza, even though it’s not my favourite track on the calendar, it’s one of my favourite weekends because of the fans. And none of them are cheering for me, they’re all cheering for Ferrari. So I think, for me, being part of events like that is always very special. and Yeah, credit to the Italian fans.”
Norris: “Yeah, I saw the same guy, but I think he was on my side. To be honest, the Italian fans have always been extremely kind to me and very supportive. Yeah, so I’ve always loved coming to… I mean, Monza is, let’s say, the Italian race that I think everyone loves the most. But yeah, all of them. There’s a lot of fans that have always supported me since go-karts. That’s where most of the races are in Italy when you’re that young. So we spend a lot of time here. But they’ve always been very supportive. So I thank the fan that was up there and all of them… I mean of course I’m not in Ferrari, and a lot of them want me to go to Ferrari, but yeah, they’ve always been very passionate and great fans to me, so I thank them for that.”
Here’s what was said after Saturday in F1 Imola GP
Here’s how F1 Imola GP qualifying panned out
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
