Lewis Hamilton and former triple Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda were among the biggest critics of Max Verstappen after his latest incident at the Chinese GP this past weekend.
A week after being too aggressive in trying to pass Hamilton caused race-ending damage in Bahrain, the Dutchman saw at least a podium finish slip away after misjudging a move against Sebastian Vettel and running into the side of the Ferrari.
Though an apology immediately after the race led to a calm reaction from the German, others haven’t been so kind with Lauda, who is now non-executive chairman at Mercedes, one of the most vocal.
“When you compete in more races you should get more clever – especially when you want to win or challenge for the championship – but he is going the other way,” he was quoted by PlanetF1.
“He needs to sort himself out. Nobody can help him.”
One point Vettel would make is the Red Bull driver’s age, though still only 20, cannot be considered an excuse in what in his fourth season in F1.
“He is not young,” Lauda agreed. “He is old in F1 now so he is like everybody else. It is not necessary because it hurts him as well.”
Though the main incident of the race was with Vettel, there would be another moment between Verstappen and the current world champion when the latter would go off track trying to pass Hamilton around the outside of Turn 7.
“I don’t think any top driver has ever been taken on the outside there before,” the Briton later commented.
“I didn’t even see him there, I was doing the corner normally. When I watch the replay, I don’t really understand what he was up to there, but it wasn’t a problem for me.”
The 33-year-old was also briefly concerned as he followed Vettel and Verstappen into the hairpin when they collided.
“I was definitely worried about [crashing into] them, especially as they were trying to turn around, so I thought I might get caught there,” he explained. “But anyway, I got through safely.
“I came towards the apex and I saw them both facing me. So I was like, ‘I can’t do the tighter turn that Kimi had done’, so I had to go left.”
The recent incidents have led some to wonder if the race stewards should do more than just the penalty Max was given for hitting the Ferrari.
“I don’t think there’s any necessity to do that, he made a mistake which he got penalised for,” FIA race director Charlie Whiting responded.
“There probably is a little bit of criticism but that’s what the penalty points are for. They’re there to make a habitual offender take notice.
“He’s got five points now, he’s going to be more careful, I would say.”
The Dutchman’s response though seems to suggest he won’t be backing down any time soon.
“Just at the moment it’s just not going the way I like, but does it really mean I have to calm down? I don’t think so,” he said.
“It’s just very unfortunate those things happening. I just need to analyse everything and try to come back stronger for the next race.”