Max Verstappen has hit out at his critics who have condemned his tactics during the Mexican Grand Prix, which could have impacted on the Formula 1 world championship title duel between Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
Days after the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Red Bull driver was still fuming about the five seconds penalty he received after the race. This denied him a podium on the day. He was fourth once all the penalties were dished out on the day.
The Dutch teenager said on his website, "It is ridiculous. I think that this is the same as in turn one. Hamilton exceeded the track limits and gained a lot of advantage. Rosberg also went off track when we ran into each other and even he gained an advantage."
"If they don’t penalize them, they shouldn’t penalize me either. I didn’t even gained an advantage. While braking I was in front of Vettel and when I came back on track I was just as close to him as before, that’s why I think that it’s ridiculous."
Vesrtappen was urged to give back the position by his race engineer, but he ignored the call, "They thought I was to give back the position, but that was never confirmed."
"After the race, I looked at the timing screens and then I saw that I was fifth. I thought ‘how is that possible?’ Then I saw that I had been given a five seconds-penalty so then I walked away. The team is at the stewards of the race."
Despite the penalty, he was happy about his race, "The race was super. If not the least to make the tyres last so long. We struggled at the end but we did finish third."
Unrepentant Verstappen insisted, "I am here to win races. I don’t care who is going to be champion, I am just going to give it my all."
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