WORLD CHAMPION Max Verstappen was upstaged by rival Charles Leclerc in Friday’s practice for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix and again criticised Netflix for ‘fake drama’ in the popular ‘Drive to Survive’ series.

On a day of security alarms following a missile attack and blaze at a nearby oil plant, the Dutchman also demonstrated his nose for trouble early when he reported burning and smoke during opening practice.

But he vented his recent frustrations after failing to finish at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on the Netflix series in which he has refused to take part after objecting to how he was portrayed in the opening series.

“It’s just not my thing,” he said. “They tried to pick moments – throughout the whole season – and fabricate it in a way.”

As an example of what he didn’t like he referred to an episode in Season Four in which Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo appear.

“It’s not even about me, it’s about Lando and Daniel – who I think are two great guys,” he said.

“They’re really nice, first of all. And it made it look like Lando was a bit of a dick, which he isn’t at all and, again, I know Lando and I think many people know Lando as a funny guy, a great guy. He has a great character.

“And actually when you look at that episode, you really think like ‘who is this guy, what the hell is going on?…

“When you are new to the sport and you’ve never seen a racing car or an F1 car in general, they don’t like him. And why should that be?

“Because he is a great guy and you just immediately get a wrong picture of a person. And that’s exactly what I think happened to me in the beginning.

“I’m someone [that] when you ruin it from the start, you don’t fix it. That’s it, you ruined it. So, that’s my stance and that’s how I’ll go forwards.”

Verstappen’s stance has been noted by others. F1 boss Stefano Domenicali warned that the series “must not move away from reality – otherwise it no longer fits.”

– © AFP 2022