At Suzuka, the Dutchman told a journalist from the Guardian to "get out" over a question to do with his Spanish GP collision with George Russell, which he was asked shortly after narrowly losing the title to Lando Norris at the season finale at Abu Dhabi.

The incident, hardly the first between Verstappen and British media, has once again opened up a common debate surrounding the media and F1.

On GPblog’s F1 Paddock Update podcast, hosts Jim Kimberley and Ben Hunt questioned whether there really is a ‘British bias’ in F1, or if there is simply just an ‘over-representation’ of one nationality in the paddock.

On social media, however, many fans have been quick to argue that such a bias does exist when the question was put to GPblog followers online.

Among the comments on Instagram, one user commented: “Yes of course there is, I'm British and I'm embarrassed to say this.”

Another argued: “If you need to ask the question, I am going to have to assume you also already know the answer. It has been, and probably always will be.”

Others offered a slightly more balanced view, with one user arguing the perceived British bias comes from a "wider footprint" in the paddock.

Meanwhile, others agree that every country has a degree of bias towards their nation’s favourite drivers, with one adding: “When it comes to British commentators, yeah maybe to a degree but so what? Did we all whine and moan when German TV was biased towards Schumacher?”

Meanwhile, former Red Bull driver David Coulthard has said he was surprised that the FIA did not take any public stance after Verstappen's incident with a journalist in Japan.

Speaking about the episode on the Up to Speed podcast, the former British driver shared his view on the situation, suggesting that, on reflection, Verstappen is unlikely to feel entirely comfortable with how it was handled.