Max Verstappen says he will not tone down how he speaks to his Red Bull team following his aggressive radio rants during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Verstappen engaged in a frank discussion with his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, and at one point said: “No mate, don’t give me that bulls*** now. You guys gave me this f***ing strategy, okay? I’m trying to rescue what’s left. F*** sake”.
His comments have sparked debate as to how he should speak to his team, with Lewis Hamilton saying he should “act like a world champion” and “always remember you are a team-mate with lots of people”.
However, when asked if he would change his behaviour in the future and bite his tongue, Verstappen said he would stick to his straight-talking style.
He said: “People that don’t like my language don’t have to listen to it. Turn the volume down. I am very driven to success. I think I’ve proven that already.
“People can argue that you might not be so vocal on the radio but that’s their opinion. My opinion is that it needs to be said at the time to maybe also try and force the second pitstop [earlier]. [That] would have been a bit different. That’s how it goes.
Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull Racing race engineer
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“We are very open-minded, we are very critical to each other as a team and that’s been working for us very well, so I don’t expect that to change.”
Verstappen wants to “move on” from his frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished fifth after clashing with Hamilton, and blamed his Red Bull team for putting him on the wrong strategy.
“From my side, I think it was quite clear that the strategy was wrong and of course I’m very driven like everyone else in the team. We want to try and be perfect,” he said.
“Now I know that every single race to do that is very very hard. I think we came very close last year but when things are not going how they should have been, I think it’s quite normal that you can share your frustration with it.
“That’s what I did and also when you’re full of adrenaline and things are happening in the race that you’re not happy with, you voice your frustration.
“But then also after the meeting, it’s quite clear, you talk about that what we did was not optimal in terms of how we executed the race. We learn from it and you just move on.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Meanwhile, he faces an engine penalty at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, triggering a 10-place grid drop, which has led the Dutch driver to accept this weekend will be a case of damage limitation.
“If you look at our last few races where we haven’t particularly been the fastest, I wouldn’t say that with 10 places extra we have a chance of winning,” he explained.
“But again a race can always be turned upside down within moments. So you have to be open-minded and try to make the best of it. That’s all we’ll try to do. At the moment I also don’t know how competitive we are going to be here. A few places also have this new tarmac so we need to see how the tyres respond to that as well.
“There are still a lot of unknowns, also with the weather. There’s quite a bit of rain expected on Friday and Saturday so [we] just need to follow the weather and just get a progression throughout the weekend and see how competitive we are.”