Let’s not forget max is one to say people who spew hate are wrong or dumb, but to my knowledge he’s never actually said they should stop.
People forget that max took Lando under his wing the same way he’s done to Kimi now. Max has told Lando not to listen to the hate, but he has never said the haters should stop sending hate. I bet he will do the same with Kimi now.
And he does this, while still saying things to the media that he knowssss they will use to push further hate to that driver. One example is the comment of saying Lando basically impeded him in quali (the “not Oscar”) one. He knows it will bring hate. He does it anyway.
Max is not as nice as people think sometimes. He can be as toxic as his team if he wants to. He hasn’t moved on from the days of toxic media wars and mental games that were prevalent when he joined f1. Max is a skilled driver, and credit where credit is due. But he’s not always a good person.
yeah to all of this. not to quote lando, but max has every right to say what he wants to say, but it annoys me that people can’t see how much he shit stirs in a way that inevitably ends up in a barrage of online hate towards whoever is on the receiving end of it. and i think i wouldn’t mind as much if people were better at recognizing that max isn’t just “being honest” or “blunt,” he’s saying stuff intentionally to stir the pot. but so many of his fans take everything he says at face value and act like anyone’s a pussy for getting upset about stuff he says because it’s just “the truth,” while simultaneously crashing out about like two comments from lando, one of which he’s repeatedly apologized for. like i won’t pretend like lando has never put his foot in his mouth, but to act like max is this innocent sweetheart victim after the things he says, many of which feel intentionally designed to rile up his fans, drives me insane. there’s a certain subset of verstappies who are the epitome of “dish it but can’t take it”