Max Verstappen says there was a “good” thing about Donald Trump’s presence on the Miami network, which was that people were very interested in the former US president, and did not “bother” him.
Formula 1 sparked controversy on Sunday at the Miami Grand Prix with former President Trump attending the race.
Donald Trump walked onto the grid at the Miami Grand Prix
He visited the McLaren garage, and Lando Norris revealed that Trump called him a “lucky charm” as the Briton went on to win the grand prix ahead of Verstappen.
But Trump’s presence has divided social media.
Despite running again for President of the United States, the 77-year-old is currently in court facing 34 criminal charges in New York, all of which he denies.
McLaren defended its decision to host the presidential candidate, explaining that they were a “non-political organisation” and that it was a “request”.
A team spokesman said: “McLaren is a non-political organisation.” “However, we value and respect the Office of the President of the United States, so when the request was made to visit our garage on race day we accepted along with the FIA President and the executives of Liberty Media and Formula 1.
As for Verstappen, he has found a big silver lining in Trump’s Formula 1 journey.
“It’s good for everyone to look at it and then not bother me,” he told Canal+.
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As for Norris, he said it was a great honor to meet Trump.
“I didn’t see him in the garage,” he said. “I was busy preparing for the race. But then he saw me and came to congratulate me.
“So I think it’s an honor, because when you have someone like that, it should be an honor for them to come to you, to take the time of their life, to pay their respects to what you’ve done.
“He said it was my lucky charm because he won, so I don’t know if he’ll do any more races now.
“But there are a lot of special people or great people who were here this weekend. Donald is someone you have to have a lot of respect for in a lot of ways.”
“For anyone like him to recognize what you can do and recognize the work ethic that goes into things, you have to be thankful for that, and I was. It’s a great moment, and that’s all.”
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