Verstappen: I won't change my approach despite F1 criticism

Max Verstappen has vowed never to change his approach to racing despite facing criticism from Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner after a difficult start to the 2018 season.

Verstappen was forced to start from the back of the grid in Monaco after crashing out during final practice, leaving his car in need of significant repairs that meant he was unable to take any part in qualifying.

Red Bull team boss Horner said Verstappen “needs to learn from it and stop making these errors” after the qualifying prang, with the Dutchman having been involved in incidents through every single race weekend so far this season.

Asked about the comments in Monaco, Verstappen hit back by stressing he would not be changing his approach given how it has served him during his rise to F1.

“I get really tired of all the comments of me, that I should change my approach. I will never do that, because it has brought me to where I am right now,” Verstappen said.

“After the race, it’s not the right time to talk. Everybody who has those comments, I don’t listen to it anyway. I just do my own thing. Of course in the beginning of the year so far, it hasn’t been going that well and not in the way I like it.

“[There have been] a few mistakes, I think especially Monaco and China. But yeah, it doesn’t make sense to keep talking about it because I get really tired of it. It just feels like there are no better questions out there than keep asking me about what happened in the previous weekend.

“I’m just focusing on what’s ahead. I’m confident that I can turn things around. The speed is there. I’ve always been quick every single weekend. It would be much more of a problem if I would be really slow, because that’s a critical problem.”

Verstappen was directly asked later in the press conference why he’d been involved in so many accidents so far this season.

“I don’t know,” Verstappen replied. “Like I said in the beginning of the press conference I get really tired of these questions.

“I think if I get a few more I might headbutt someone.”

Verstappen denied he had crashed more times this season than in any previous year of his F1 career to date, and said he felt the incidents were being exaggerated. 

“There were two which were my fault, but I had for example three in one weekend in 2016 in Monaco. So it’s not that dramatic as people say it is,” Verstappen said.

“Of course I haven’t scored the points which I should have scored but that was not only my fault.

“It could have been better, but everybody makes it so dramatic.”