Max Verstappen has defended his approach to racing by suggesting mistakes are the only way to learn and improve.
The Dutchman has often come under fire for his aggressive style on the track, particularly when moves have gone wrong like in the early races of 2018.
Since a setback in Monaco that year, however, Max has certainly become more considered on when he does go all-out attack and he insists that change only comes from errors.
“Sometimes you have to drive aggressively and sometimes not and mistakes happen,” he told Germany’s Auto Zeitung. “If you don’t want that, you’d better put a robot in the car.
“But it is also quite good to make mistakes because that’s the only way to learn.
“People often say to themselves ‘don’t do that’ but you can’t avoid that. Especially in a racing car on the limit, it is easy to make mistakes, the main thing is always to learn from them.”
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As noted, Verstappen has certainly become more consistent in his results over the past season and a half by limiting crucial errors and he certainly sees plenty more room for growth.
“I have improved in each of my five Formula 1 seasons so far,” he said. “That’s always good, but on the other hand, it’s no surprise. You always gain experience and automatically become better.
“But I always set the bar higher. I always want to improve myself.
“Even a victory is not good enough for me, there’s always room for improvement in winning. Some people celebrate victories as if everything went perfectly but even then I still worry.”
Looking ahead to 2020, however, Verstappen’s goal is set higher than just wins with this year his final chance to beat Sebastian Vettel as F1’s youngest ever champion.
“It would be nice, yes,” the 22-year-old said on that possibility. “But I always want to fight for titles, whether I’m the youngest or not. I hope I have the opportunity this season.
“I will give everything for it. I am sure that we will have a good year. But of course we have to wait and see.”