Verstappen defends his criticism of team

02/10/2022
NEWS STORY

Max Verstappen believes he was totally justified in criticising his team after being told to abort his final flying lap.

Having aborted his previous flyer, the Dutchman went for it again, and though he wasn't fastest in the opening two sectors, he was up on his previous best and looking good to leapfrog Charles Leclerc for pole.

However, as he began the twisty final sector he was ordered to abort the lap and pit.

As he pulled into the pitlane he uttered a string of expletives, demanding to know why he had been given the order. In response he was simply told; "we'll talk about it later".

In truth, having anticipated that the Dutchman would only be doing 5 laps the team had fuelled the car accordingly, but the fact that he stayed out for a sixth meant he was in danger of being unable to supply the mandatory litre sample of fuel, which would have meant demotion to the back of the grid.

Speaking to the media later, his mood had not improved, but when asked why he had so publically criticised his team he said this is the way it should be.

"I like the critical approach," he said. "When I **** up, they can also tell me that I made a mistake.

"I think it should be the other way around as well," he continued, "because that's how we keep each other heading in the right direction. We want to be perfect. We don't want to be good, we want to be perfect."

Asked about the moments after he climbed from the car and whether he was criticised for his outburst, he replied:" I think they know when they saw my face, and what I said on the radio."

Referring to that final lap, he said: "I had a big moment in the last sector, and I was already like two seconds up, I think, before I even got to these two corners. I would definitely have been pole."

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Published: 02/10/2022
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