I'm visiting an unknown and possibly malicious website. Lots of them. Python's requests do not run javascript. Can I get infected? Should I consider using a virtual machine?
No, merely downloading HTTP data won't install a virus.
A virus needs to be activated too, and requests doesn't do anything with the downloaded data for that to happen. Normally, a virus uses bugs in the browser (or more commonly, a plugin in the browser) to trigger code execution, or by tricking the user into executing the downloaded file. For example, bugs in the Flash player executing a Flash file could be used to run arbitrary code, or the user is tricked into believing they downloaded a document but it is really an executable program.
Can I get a virus by visiting an unknown website using python's requests package?