Max Verstappen clashes with Sky UK’s Ted Kravitz over Stephen Knowles criticism. Max Verstappen defends Red Bull sporting director Stephen Knowles after Barcelona GP controversy.

The ‘usual’ relations with the British media
It’s no secret that over the years Max Verstappen has developed a frequently tense relationship with certain British journalists. In the past, there have been several more or less heated clashes between the Dutch champion and the British media, particularly with Sky Sports F1, the network that holds the TV rights to Formula 1 in the UK.

Yesterday in Montreal, just a couple of weeks after the events in Barcelona and the subsequent controversy, this friction resurfaced. The reigning F1 world champion was involved in a tense exchange with well-known Sky UK journalist Ted Kravitz. The topic of discussion was the role of Red Bull’s current sporting director, Stephen Knowles, in the events that took place during the Spanish GP—especially the incorrect call to let George Russell through, made under the assumption that Verstappen had committed an infraction which was ultimately dismissed by the stewards.

During the usual media day, Ted Kravitz pointed the finger at Knowles, who has taken over Jonathan Wheatley’s role on the Red Bull pit wall. Wheatley, the former sporting director, recently became team principal at Sauber/Audi.
“Since Jonathan Wheatley left,” Ted Kravitz asked Max Verstappen, “Stephen Knowles has been in charge of liaising with the FIA. I assume it was him who told Lambiase to instruct you to let George through, which turned out not to be the right decision. The stewards later confirmed that. How are you addressing that within the team? Obviously, he hasn’t been in that role for long, as Jonathan just moved to Sauber. How do you prevent this from happening again?”

This question sparked a discussion between the two—fully translated below—in which Verstappen strongly defended Knowles and refused to publicly criticize the work of his team member.

Verstappen: “I think it’s not nice to try and point the finger at just one person, because it’s never like that. We only look at what we do as a team, at what we can improve, and that’s also how we looked at Barcelona. But it’s not fair to now single out one person.”
Kravitz: “I don’t think I pointed fingers. I just said who it was. Jonathan Wheatley is obviously a known figure, I wasn’t saying it was Stephen Knowles’ fault.”
Verstappen: “But you did name him.”
Kravitz: “Jonathan Wheatley was a well-known figure, he was your rules guy. Now he [Knowles] is the new one.”
Verstappen: “So we’re talking about him, you are pointing at him.”
Kravitz: “OK, but he’s on the pit wall. He’s a fairly well-known person…”
Verstappen: “This is not the place to talk about it. If we ever have to assess what we can improve, we’ll do it like every other team does. But I’m not going to sit here in front of a camera and say whose fault it was.”
Kravitz: “I wasn’t asking…”
Verstappen: “We all live and learn.”
Kravitz: “I wasn’t asking you to do that, just to be clear. I was asking how… live and learn. Thanks, I think you’ve answered.”