A defiant Max Verstappen says he will “never” change his approach in Formula 1 and is tiring of people attempting to offer him advice.
Verstappen has endured a stuttering opening third to his 2018 campaign, amid a series of incidents and setbacks, the result of which has limited his points tally.
Verstappen spun in Australia, crashed in qualifying in Bahrain prior to clashing with Lewis Hamilton in the race – resulting in his retirement – and collided with Sebastian Vettel in China.
Contact with Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in Azerbaijan eliminated both while a practice crash in Monaco left Verstappen out of qualifying, going on to finish ninth in a race won by Ricciardo.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner suggested in the aftermath of the Monaco Grand Prix that the outcome of the weekend’s action would serve as a lesson for Verstappen.
“Max has an abundance of talent and had some harsh lessons this year and I think a modified approach will benefit him,” said Horner.
“What frustrates him is that he’s working harder than ever, feels fitter than ever and it feels like he’s just trying a bit too hard at the moment. Of course, when you get into a spiral and try harder I think you just need to hit the reset button.”
Speaking ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Verstappen rubbished suggestions that he needs to change and asserted that he is fed up of others trying to guide his career.
“I get really tired of all the comments that I should change my approach, I would never do that, because it’s brought me to where I am right now,” he said.
“After a race it’s not the right time to talk, and yeah, so everybody who has those comments I don’t listen to it anyway, and I just do my own thing.
“Of course since the beginning of the year so far it hasn’t been going that well and not in the way I liked it, I had a few mistakes, especially Monaco and China, but it doesn’t make sense to keep talking about it as I get really tired of it.
“It just feels like there’s no better questions out there than [to] keep asking me about what happened in the previous weekend.
“I’m just focusing on what’s ahead and I’m confident I can turn things around, the speed is there, I have always been quick every single weekend, it would be much more of a problem if I had been slow, that’s much more of a critical problem.”
When asked directly why he had been involved in several collisions this year, Verstappen replied: “I don’t know. Like I said in the beginning of this press conference I’m getting really tired of the questions, I think if I get a few more I’ll headbutt someone!”
Verstappen also added that his incidents have been exaggerated by his critics, commenting: “[There were] just two which were my fault.
“I had for example three [incidents] in one weekend in 2016 in Monaco so it’s still not that dramatic, of course I haven’t scored the points I should have scored but that was not only my fault.
“It could have been better but everyone makes it so dramatic.”
Verstappen currently holds sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship.
