Max Verstappen says his three Formula 1 drivers’ championships show he knows how to race following criticism of his driving ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The stewards gave Verstappen two 10-second time penalties for his driving in Mexico City, where he twice was deemed to have forced Lando Norris off track. Following comments from 1996 world champion Damon Hill that one of the moves amounted to “silly driving,” Verstappen dismissed criticism from those he is not close to.
“I don’t listen to those individuals, I just do my thing,” Verstappen said. “I’m a three-time world champion. I think I know what I’m doing.
“I’ve heard [criticism of his approach] before in my career. It’s my 10th year in Formula 1. Some people are just a bit biased and I mean — I get it, it’s fine. But it’s not my problem at the end of the day. I just continue with my life and I keep performing.”
Verstappen says he does take onboard advice from people he trusts, but believes some pundits’ opinions are irrelevant given the number of races and titles he has already won.
“[I listen to] people that are objective and close to me and not just there to stir… I can’t say the word because I’ll probably get another [fine],” he said. “Apparently it only counts for me anyway, because after the race in Mexico, someone was swearing — I didn’t hear anything from it! So, it’s better I don’t swear again.
“But some people are just being very annoying and I know who these people are. I don’t really pay a lot of attention to them anyway and I think I’ve got to this stage in my career with the right people supporting me and making my own decisions. Yeah, so I think I know what I’m doing.”
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After being penalized twice in Mexico City but seeing Norris pick up a penalty at Circuit of The Americas, Verstappen said there is no obvious fix to the situation surrounding racing guidelines and that there will always be debates over what is or isn’t fair.
“I think it’s not that straightforward. Clearly, even between how many seconds [penalty] that you get,” he said. “So, sometimes they work for you, sometimes they work against you.
“I think it’s never going to be perfect because even if you remove rules, then you get into a battle, then you want more rules because it’s not clear what is allowed or not. Then when you have too many rules, you want less rules. It just keeps on going left and right all the time.
“Do I think it’s overregulated? Probably yes. In general, the rulebook is only getting bigger and bigger every single year, I don’t think that’s always the right way forward.”