Verstappen says online abuse ’doesn’t bother me’

Max Verstappen says he personally ignores social media abuse, but felt compelled to intervene when it was directed at his young GT3 teammate Chris Lulham.

Lulham, the sim racer turned real-world competitor in Verstappen’s GT program, was heavily criticised online after making contact with a rival at Portimao and receiving a drive-through penalty.

Verstappen subsequently issued a rare social media statement defending the 23-year-old.

When asked about it in Austin, the four-time world champion said anonymous accounts are part of the problem.

"You can simply create troll accounts there, without your real name or address being attached to it," said Verstappen.

"People can say online everything they want."

Verstappen, however, said he has little concern when he is personally targeted.

"I don’t care about that myself," said the Dutchman.

"If it’s aimed at me, they can all f**k off."

But Lulham’s situation was different.

"It was now aimed at one of my drivers, who is still young and not used to this kind of pressure and attention," said the 29-year-old.

"Then when they write this kind of thing, that’s pretty extreme. That’s why I felt it was necessary to share this statement."

Verstappen said he also spoke privately with Lulham.

"I did talk to him about it and tried to make sure he doesn’t read too much about it," he said. "I know how he’s put together and he’s pretty relaxed, but it’s still not fun."

He said the incident itself was minor.

"This was just a very small error of judgement," said Verstappen. "Yes, we were punished for that, but it’s not necessary to hate him for that."

"I thought it was very important to share that statement."