Max Verstappen has fired back at Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who had claimed that the ‘model’ of selfish and ruthless F1 drivers had died following Kimi Antonelli‘s world championship triumph at the Mexican GP. Verstappen said that if every driver on the grid had the same personality, the sport could get ‘boring’.

“Everyone has their own opinion. If we all had the same personality, things would be boring,” Verstappen said in the drivers’ press conference on Thursday ahead of the Brazilian GP.

Fernando Alonso, who was also present at the conference, simply said that he had ‘nothing to add’ to Verstappen’s comments, as he agreed with the Dutchman.

Wolff said after the race in Mexico City that the new world champion, Antonelli, embodies values of ‘humility, integrity, loyalty and respect’, and that the 20-year-old should be a ‘role model’ for young drivers coming up through the ranks in junior formulae.

Wolff also seemingly took a jibe at some of the current F1 drivers, saying that a few ‘entitled ones’ in the sport can also look at Antonelli as a role model. He said that the ‘endless moaners’ who complain excessively over the team radio can learn something from the young Italian.

“We have a new champion that represents values – humility, integrity, loyalty, respect, being himself. He should be a role model for many other young drivers in junior formulas.

“He should be a role model for the few entitled ones in Formula 1 – the endless moaners on the radio, the ones that complain, the ones that crash,” Wolff told Sky Sports in Mexico.

Wolff also urged young kids driving in junior formulae to look up to Antonelli, who is still only 20, and think about what they can do to improve themselves. He even added that the Italian driver’s racing style is how FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief Stefano Domenicali want to see other drivers race in the future.

Wolff showered his driver Antonelli with even more praise, saying that the youngest world champion in the history of the sport ‘represents modern Formula 1’. He added that Antonelli demonstrated how one can defeat other drivers by ‘being a good person.’

“That is modern Formula 1. Kimi represents the modern Formula 1 driver because of those values, not only because of his talent,” said Wolff.

“The talent is there with everyone. But you have got to be a good person too. He has demonstrated that you can beat everyone out there by being a good person,” he added.

Antonelli claimed the drivers’ title in Mexico last week after finishing third at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. He became the youngest-ever world champion in F1 history, and did so with five rounds of the 2026 season still left.

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