Verstappen causes playful press conference stir: ‘You’d poop your pants’

Max Verstappen had to double-check to ensure he would not fall foul of the FIA’s new swearing regulations.

Max Verstappen caused mirth during the post-qualifying FIA press conference after suggesting what might happen to a member of the media if he were to drive them around Suzuka.

Verstappen had just delivered arguably one of the greatest laps of his F1 career en route to claiming a surprise 61st pole position, stunning all in the paddock, including his bosses, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

With McLaren poised for a front-row lock-out spearheaded by Lando Norris, Verstappen stole in at the death to beat the Briton by just 0.012s and secure his fourth consecutive pole position at Suzuka.

Even Verstappen was left surprised by his achievement that has now teed him up for what would also be an equally surprising win.

Asked to “describe the sensation, the feeling in the cockpit” after delivering a record-breaking pole position around a circuit as iconic as Suzuka, Verstappen, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, replied: “The sensation? Well, I’m happy that I’m first!

“Maybe if you want to drive the car, I can give it a go. I think you’re going to poop your pants.”

Smiling and chuckling, and with laughs from the assembled media, Verstappen added: “Is that allowed [saying that] in the press conference?”

Continuing, he added: “It’s not easy, but we clearly found a drivable balance. I tried to do the best I could, but around here you need to be very committed, especially in sector one.”

‘Rare a lap like that can stick’ – Verstappen

During practice on Friday, Verstappen had again bemoaned his car, describing the RB21 as ‘flexing’. Overnight, considerable work was undertaken to address the issue.

Regardless, Verstappen was still almost in a state of shock at what he had just achieved when he addressed the media.

“It [the car] was a bit better,” said Verstappen. “That issue was a lot better, but at the same time, the through-corner balance is still what we need to work on.

“On low fuel, over one lap, some bits you can mask a little. But it’s still not like I go into the lap fully confident and comfortable.

“So the last lap I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to try and not feel uncomfortable, just send it in and see what we get.

“It’s very rare that a lap like that can stick, but this time it worked well. When I crossed the line, I could see my name pop up. But I knew Oscar [Piastri] was still behind me.

“I was already just very happy with what I did there because I didn’t even expect to be close to that. That was a nice moment.

“We know that we have some issues that we want to solve, but it’s not easy at the moment.”