Formula 1 is the highest and most prestigious category of motor racing globally, which means billions of people wait with bated breath to watch F1 interviews of their favorite race car drivers at post-race conferences. This article breaks down some of the best and most entertaining interviews from the F1 series we’ve had the privilege of watching.

The iconic water fight between Eddie Irvine and Mika Hanniken takes the cake as one of the best and most memorable Formula 1 interviews. Honorable mentions go to Daniel Ricciardo’s faux pas at the 2016 German GP and David Coulthard’s conspiracy theory interview with Felippe Massa.

Besides the beloved F1 interviews we outlined above, there are several other contenders that deserve their moment. This article will take you down the Formula 1 memory lane and discuss some of the best F1 interviews of all time. Keep reading for some F1 interview nostalgia and a good laugh. 

#1 Daniel Ricciardo Confuses Scotland With Ireland In Hilarious Interview With Scottish Journalist Graham Keilloh

After taking home 2nd place in a brilliant run at the 2016 German GP, the Italian-Australian racing driver Daniel Joseph Ricciardo made a hilarious faux pas at the post-race press conference. When speaking to journalist Graham Keilloh, Ricciardo made the mistake of putting on an Irish accent, even though Keilloh is, in fact, from Scotland.

“Top of the morning to you, Graham,” Ricciardo said confidently when speaking to Keilloh. Ricciardo was beaming after what he assumed was a good-natured joke before realizing how off the mark he was. A calm and most likely amused Keilloh responded, “‘Scottish,” sending ripples of laughter throughout the conference crowd.

“Oh, Scottish!”  The smiling Ricciardo chimed with embarrassment, while F1 stars Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were also seen chucking on camera at the conference. Ricciardo laughed at himself for a while after jokingly adding, “Same thing, right?” to the still laughing Keilloh.

You’ll see many clips of this hilarious exchange between Keilloh and Ricciardo on YouTube, as it’s a favorite among F1 fans and Ricciardo fans. Ricciardo handled the situation well, saying, “I wanted you to ask me a question all weekend, and I was waiting to say that, and then I just blew it,” laughing at himself with his face in his hands.

#2 David Coulthard Rambles About Ferrari/Massa Conspiracy In Interview Following The Hungary 2007 Grand Prix Disaster

If you remembered the Grand Prix in Hungary back in 2007, you might also remember the legendary interview with Felipe Massa and Coulthard a few weeks later at the Turkish GP. If not, let us jog your memory.

Famous F1 driver Felippe Massa was only three laps away from winning the GP in Hungary when disaster struck. Massa had a shock engine failure in an unbelievable moment in Formula 1 history that no one could have predicted. The worst part was that Ferrari failed to refuel Massa’s car.

Sadly, that meant Massa finished second that day in what the drivers recall being the “worst race” in his entire career.  What did lighten the mood around the entire Ferrari/Massa mishap, however, was the interview Massa attended at the Turkish GP three weeks later with British F1 driver Daniel Coulthard. Coulthard had this to say:

“How do we know that Ferrario didn’t deliberately not put fuel in Felipe’s car?” He went on to question whether this was a decision made by the team as an advantage to Kimi. “You know, how do you forget to put fuel in the car? No one said anything about that!” The famous interview is still circling the internet as a memorable moment in F1 interview history.

#3 Juan Pablo Montoya Throws Shade At Michael Schumacher While Sitting Next To Him After The San Marino Grand Prix

The 2004 Grand Prix in San Morino was not without its own set of drama. The Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya had something of a showdown with Michael Schumacher – both on the track and off. Schumacher pushed Montoya’s car onto the grass but insisted this was because he didn’t see Montoya’s car during the incident.

In the post-race press conference that fateful day in 2004, a journalist asked the Colombian driver, “When you’re running side by side and fighting for position around the corner, can you just clarify what you consider acceptable behavior and what’s unacceptable?”

The question sparked a sarcasm-filled and truly sassy response from Montoya, who said, “Well, he said he didn’t see me, he thought I wasn’t there, so. I’m amazed. Actually, I got in front of him when we were braking a little bit. Oh no, he didn’t see me there. Wow no, no chance!”. Montoya shook his head, visibly peeved, as Schumacher sat awkwardly beside him.

While this was all very entertaining to those at the interview and the billions of eyeballs watching online, it was not by any means the funniest part of the interview. This would have to be when Montoya said the following: “You either got to be blind or stupid to not see me.”

You could see the friction between these drivers during the race!

#4 Water Fight Between Eddie Irvine And Mika Hakkinen At The 1999 Canada Grand Prix

One of the most iconic Formula 1 interviews to date involves two world-famous F1 stars acting like little children despite being on camera at a press conference. Let’s go back in time to 1999, after the qualifying race at the Air Canada Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher sat between Mika Hanniken and Eddie Irvine at the post-race press conference. Everything was going as one might expect until Eddie Irvine suddenly chucked a towel at Mika Hanniken’s head. Hanniken seemed to have a chuckle about this and continued with the interview. At least until Irvine threw water at him from across the table.

It was a surprisingly funny moment to occur at a post-race conference of all places, between two well-respected Formula 1 drivers, no less. However, if there’s one thing that we can can take away from this, it’s that these interviews are a gold mine for silly exchanges between F1 drivers and journalists.

Perhaps the funniest part about this hilarious moment in F1 history is Michael Schumacher’s reaction. While Mika Hanniken ran off camera – half laughing, half apologizing to the journalists and cameramen – chasing Eddie Irvine down with a jug of water in hand, Schumacher sat calmly with his hands in the air, shrugging it off.

You can check out this water fight in the following YouTube video!

#5 Jarno Trulli And Adrian Sutil Have An Argument About A Crash At The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

During the first lap at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil crashed into one another, leading to a lot of heated debate at the post-race interview conference for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. When he was asked whether he had settled his differences with Trulli, Sutil said the following:

 “I think there’s nothing to discuss, you know. It’s quite an obvious accident.” He then explained that he was very disappointed for himself, especially because he “was the one who was just driving, and he lost control of his car and crashed into my back. So it was not my problem; it was his problem. I don’t know why he’s freaking out like that, to be honest.”

To this, an amused and laughing Trulli responded, “If you want, I can show you some pictures.” He then produced pictures of the crash and continued to Sutil, “So probably…I don’t know if you’re blind, but it can clearly show you that my front wing is next to your front wing.”

Sutil replied, “Yeah, but you were trying to overtake me outside on the curb.” He even went so far as to berate Trulli for his crash into a Force India car, telling him to respect the limits of the car.”

#6 Jan Pablo Montoya Forced To Answer The Weirdest F1 Interview Question Ever And Leaves Australian Grand Prix Conference

If you’ve never seen Juan Pablo Montoya being pranked at the Australian Grand Prix post-race interview conference, do yourself a favor and Google it. You’ll find yourself watching the clip over and over again. It’s hilarious!

“Juan the wunderkind, the rising number one of Formula One,” the question started. “Juan, one wonders,” he quipped, “should Juan only win one Formula One the one year”, finally asking,  “would Juan want to have won that one in round one?”

Montoya was amused at first but quickly got frustrated and annoyed as the pranksters continued with his nonsensical questioning: “I’m not trying at all to spin a yarn, Juan, but just wish you the best that we can all just stay calm, Juan. Just on your car, we wouldn’t wish any harm on you or the car. But is that the way you approach your Formula One racing?”

Eventually, the prankster ended up leaving the conference, and a rather enraged Montoya exited shortly after. It was certainly one for the books and something any Formula 1 fan remembers with a big smile and a laugh.

#7 Pube-Gate 2019 With Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris at British Grand Prix 2019

Lewis Hamilton was busy being interviewed and chatting about his mustache. It was this conversation about facial hair that sparked what is now known as “Pube-Gate,” a hysterical moment in Formula One history.

Hamilton asked Lando Norris, “The mustache? What, the fact that I can’t really grow much?” To which Norris responded, “Well, I can’t do much better either.” As a journalist later pointed out, Norris is much younger than Hamilton., which makes the next part of this interview so funny.

While Hamilton went on speaking to the journalist, Daniel Ricciardo leaned over to Norris and innocently asked, “Have you got pubes yet?” From the clip, we can see that neither Hamilton nor the journalist heard Ricciardo. “Pubes?” Norris asked Ricciardo, sending them both into absolute hysterics.

This hilarious bit between Ricciardo and the young Lando Norris is undoubtedly one of F1’s best interviews and made all the funnier by Hamilton’s ignorance at the moment. Believe it or not, Riccardo still talks about Pube-Gate to this day. 

#8 Daniel Ricciardo Is The Class Clown Once Again At The 2017 Formula 1 World Championship

If you’re a Ricciardo fan, it won’t surprise you that he has been featured in this article several times. F1 fans know that Ricciardo is a crowd favorite, if not for his racing, then for his fantastic sense of humor. Ricciardo is always getting both journalists and his fellow drivers laughing and brings a great lightheartedness to post-race interview conferences.

At the 2017 Formula One World Championship, Ricciardo was being interviewed along with fellow F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton, Daniil Kvyat, and Pascal Werhlein. The interview started with Ricciardo cracking jokes about Formula One being full of “sick bastards”. This was in reference to Martin Brundle asking Ricciardo for a ‘shoey’ in Austria earlier that year.

Regarding shoeys, Hamilton has this to say “The juice from the foot is not something I wish to drink. Especially if it’s someone else’s,” which got all of the guys laughing and having a good time. They all continued to joke with the journalist about which of them got invited to Sebastian Vettel’s party and how Vettel had given Daniil Kvyat the nickname “Torpedo.”

All in all, this interview conference was one of the more relaxed and casual of the Formula 1 series, with all the interviewees and journalists having a good time joking around with one another.

#9 Long Awkward Question From Journalist At The 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sends Drivers Into Hysterics

Drivers at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were struggling to stifle their laughter as a journalist went on a tangent with what may be the longest interview question of all time. It goes a little something like this:

“Niki Lauda [once said] ‘Take a trained monkey and [put him in] the cockpit, and he [can] drive the car.’ Thirty years later, Sebastian told us, ‘I have to start my car like a computer. It’s very complicated.’ And Nico Rosberg said he pressed during the race… the wrong button on the wheel. “

“Is [F1] driving today too complicated with 20 and more buttons on the wheel?” He continued,
are you too much under effort, under pressure?” The interviewer then asked, “what are [the drivers] wishes for the future concerning the technical program during the race – less buttons, more or less? And more communication with your engineers?”

This incredibly long question (which is more like a speech) had all the drivers at the conference giggling to themselves, though trying their best not to be rude to the long-winded journalist. If you’d like to check out what could likely be the wordiest press conference question of all time, you can check out the following video!

#10 Lewis Hamilton Gets Hounded About His Supposed Tell-All Book And A Promise He Made 2 Years Ago

Here’s another great example of how journalists can be just as funny as drivers at post-race interview conferences. In this interview, we see a journalist ask a long and rambling question to Lewis Hamilton regarding a promise he made years prior. Here’s what he said:

“Lewis, I want to remind you politely of your promise you have given two years ago.  Quote ‘In ten years, you will have to buy my book [for] the explanation for the change of my and Nico’s mechanics crew.’ It was a good question. It would be an interesting read. Do you remember?”

Niko responded that he remembered Lewis saying this. The journalist went on: “I want to know if you have already started writing your book, I am now sixty-nine,” he started, before clarifying that he has no intention to purchase or read it in the future.

Lewis insisted that he still had eight years to go if he were to keep his promise and that the journalist would simply have to keep waiting. Another funny moment was when Niko chimed in that Lewis should answer now, hinting that the journalist was looking pretty old.

#11 Fly In The Room At The Formula One Magyar Nagydíj 2018 Conference

While some people were actually taking the interview seriously at the  Formula One Magyar Nagydíj 2018 Conference, Sebastian Vettel was completely distracted. Understandably so, as there was a noisy fly buzzing around the F1 driver’s head and diverting his attention.

If you watch the video clip of the conference, you’ll see how quickly and deftly Vettel snatches the fly in the palm of his hand, then holds the bug up for Lewis Hamilton to see. Hamilton seems suitably impressed with Vettel’s catch as he assesses the bug between Vettel’s two fingers and makes a face as if to say, “Nicely done.”

What’s even funnier about this particular interview is how Vettel releases the fly back into the air, after which it continues to buzz around the conference room and distract both Vettel and Hamilton.

Funnily enough, many of the journalists didn’t seem to notice what was happening during the interviews. The footage, however, makes it very clear that Vettel was in his own little world for a good portion of it.

#12 Max Verstappen Threatens To Headbutt A Journalist After The Canada Grand Prix 2018

It was a tough few seconds of silence after a journalist at the 2018 Canada Grand Prix post-race interview conference asked Max Verstappen why he has had so many accidents. “I don’t know,” Verstappen said with a blank expression. However, you could tell that the driver was enraged by the question.

A long silence followed, after which Verstappen finally continued rather angrily, “[as] I said [at the start of the] conference, I get really tired of all the questions.” Verstappen then went on to state that any more questions might lead him to headbutt someone. Again, Verstappen was seething when he said this, and the blank expression on his face only made it worse.

Unlike some of the other interview moments in this article, this Verstappen interview clip doesn’t include any upbeat laughter from the other drivers or the journalists. The room was almost dead quiet during the exchange.


That said, Verstappen’s interview still gets edited in hilarious ways on Youtube and has entertained many a Formula One fan. Verstappen’s vague threat to headbutt any journalists that ask about his accidents will keep us having a laugh for years to come.

#13 Brave Journalist Antagonizes Max Verstappen With Questions About His Racing Accidents

Despite what was outlined earlier in this article, a journalist was brave enough to taunt Max Verstappen with yet another question about the number of accidents the Dutch driver suffered during his races in 2018.

“With the risk of being headbutted, Max, I was just wondering: [can you] explain why you have had more crashes this year? Because you’ve had more than you’ve ever had in your formal career so far. It seems a legitimate question to ask,” said the journalist.

With his signature blank expression covering up his fury, Verstappen responded, “I don’t think so. Just two were my fault. But I had, for example, three in one weekend in 2016 in Monaco, so it’s not all as dramatic as people say it is. I haven’t scored points which I should have scored, but that was not only my fault…everybody makes it so dramatic.”

The audacity of the journalist is still funny to this day, and Verstappen’s failure to headbutt him is also quite hilarious, too. We’ll be remembering this interview moment for a while due to Verstappen’s classic blank expression and response.

Conclusion

Formula One may be a serious sport and a world-class sporting event, but that doesn’t mean it’s free of silly moments like the ones we discussed in this article. Hopefully, our list of the best F1 interviews entertained you and took you on a fun trip down memory lane.

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