David Croft delivered an impassioned defence of Max Verstappen after an F1 fan singled the Dutch driver out for criticism.

Verstappen was called out for his on-track behaviour during a fan engagement event in the UK, prompting Sky F1 commentator David Croft to leap to the four-time F1 World Champion’s defence.

David Croft: Max Verstappen does what he does to win

Verstappen came in for plenty of criticism from pundits and fans throughout F1 2024, due to the nature of his on-track defending as he battled to hold onto his championship lead against an attacking Lando Norris and McLaren.

The most egregious example was in Mexico, where Verstappen picked up two separate time penalties for incidents with Norris, prompting criticism from leading punditry figures like Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert.

The season ended with accusations of bias made by the Verstappen camp, aimed at these pundits and British media in general – accusations which, when addressed, were swiftly denied.

Sky F1 commentator David Croft was one media figure who had to contend with such accusations from fans on social media, particularly after the Hungarian Grand Prix – during what was a difficult race for Verstappen, Croft made frequent references questioning Verstappen’s choice to stay up late taking part in an online sim endurance race before the Grand Prix.

But Croft delivered an impassioned defence of Verstappen when the Dutch driver was singled out for criticism by a fan visiting the main stage at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, UK, over the weekend.

The fan, who indicated he didn’t like Verstappen, was quizzed by Croft on why, with the reason given as, “He’s over-aggressive on-track and he’s a petulant individual when it comes to other drivers.”

Croft responded by saying, “You are entitled to your view, sir, and I’m not going to disagree with you.

“He’s over-aggressive on track, and he’s petulant to the other drivers… which probably makes him a winner and a champion.

“Now, do we like champions? Do we like winners? We all have our favourites. I get that entirely.

“But the thing about Max is that he does what he does to win and to be a champion, and Red Bull is paying him to win and be a champion, so he’s doing what’s expected of him.

“I have no problem with that whatsoever. I like Max. I’ve always liked Max. I’ve liked him since he first drove in Japan FP1 [in 2014] because he’s got so much talent, and I appreciate the talents.

“Michael Schumacher. We love Michael Schumacher. We love Lewis Hamilton. They’re winners. They’re champions. We love Sebastian Vettel for all those years winning four titles as well.

“He did what he had to do to win as well. And if his teammate got in the way of that, and was collateral damage, as it were…so be it, that didn’t matter. He was a winner.

“Maybe we just have to appreciate that Max is a bit of a winner. Maybe we should actually celebrate the fact that, for four years, he’s been at the top. Spain 2022 was the last time Max didn’t lead the Drivers Championship. Imagine getting out of bed every morning, trying to keep yourself on top for nearly four years. That’s a hell of a toll.”

Verstappen wasn’t the only person to point towards biases in the media during 2024, with former Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey also suggesting Sky’s coverage has been “nationalistic” at times – a sentiment Verstappen agreed with when asked about it during the Brazilian GP weekend.

Karun Chandhok, a colleague of Croft’s at Sky, said he didn’t believe there was bias in their presentation.

“My Instagram is full of all the people telling me I’m biased,” Chandhok told Dutch publication GPBlog.

“Unfortunately, in the job that we do when you’re facing the public, you have the Lewis fans who think you’re biased against Lewis. You have the Max fans who think you’re biased against Max. You have the Lando fans saying, why are you so biased against Lando?

“It’s weird right – people are sometimes so in love with their favourite driver that objectivity goes out the window. I understand their passion – but it’s our job to be objective.

“And in the end, I don’t care. I really don’t pay attention to the comments because it can consume you if you do. And most importantly – I know in my conscience that I’m not biased.

“I speak my opinion. If I think someone has done a great job, I say they’ve done a great job. If I think somebody has made a mistake or somebody deserves to be criticised, then I will do that. You learn very quickly in this sport that you can’t keep everybody happy. That’s okay, you have to learn to be okay with it.

“I think people only focus on the negative. The ones who say you are biased… they only focus on the one thing you have said that maybe they don’t like.

“I might have said 2000 amazing things about Max or 2000 amazing things about Lewis, Lando or whoever. But if you say one bad thing about any of these drivers, their fans just focus on that. That’s the video that gets posted everywhere.”