Speaking to international media in Montreal, Max Verstappen made it clear on Thursday that he has no intention of changing his racing style. Not now. Not ever. The four-time world champion from Red Bull faced a barrage of questions about his collision with George Russell two weeks ago during the final stages of the Spanish GP, and the subsequent penalty.
“I will continue to race as I always have. I can’t avoid everything. I trust myself,” the main character argued convincingly in the run-up to the Canadian GP.
After the previous race in Barcelona, Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty from the stewards due to the incident with Russell, which resulted in him being classified tenth and earning only one World Championship point. The Dutchman also received three points on his racing license, leaving him just one penalty point away from a race suspension.
Verstappen is not worried about this in the slightest, he told reporters during a busy media session in Red Bull Racing’s hospitality area. “Is it fair that I’m in this position? I don’t know, but at the same time, life isn’t always fair. I’m not worried about it. I’m here to race. And I will race hard, in the way I think I should race. I’m not here to get a suspension, but I’m also not going to race differently. For you, it (a looming suspension) might be a story, but not for me.”
‘Everyone Makes Mistakes’
It was in Montreal that Max Verstappen first openly spoke about the incident in Barcelona, aside from his brief message on social media the day after the race, in which he more or less apologized.
Verstappen on this: “It wasn’t hard to write that message. You evaluate how things went after every race, even after good races. After the contact with George Russell, I was told I had to give up the position, while I thought we could just continue. The end of the race was quite frustrating for that reason. Until that moment, everything was going well. In the end, a lot of things came together. It was clearly a misjudgment in that particular corner. But everyone makes mistakes in life. You learn from them and then you move on. It’s clear that we’ll try to handle it better in the future.”
For this weekend, Verstappen is under no illusions. A sporting stunt on the circuit where he has previously won three times is not on the cards. “McLaren is faster everywhere, so it doesn’t even occur to me to compete with them. I’m focusing more on the other teams. Mercedes was strong here last year and I think they are more competitive this season, so a podium finish will be hard enough.”
