Max Verstappen claims he has put the events of last Sunday’s Chinese GP behind him as the fallout from the race continues.
The Dutchman has been at the receiving end of tough criticism from pundits and Lewis Hamilton in recent weeks in the wake of two high-profile incidents, the first with the Briton in Bahrain and then with Sebastian Vettel in Shanghai.
Talking to Dutch media though, Verstappen insists it would not be good for him to keep thinking about what has happened and instead focus on the upcoming races.
“Of course it was not my best race. Of course I am not happy with how it went in China,” he was quoted by PlanetF1, “but you should not allow it to linger for too long, you have to get on with it.
“It’s not the end of the world. I had a poor race and I will learn from it.”
The 20-year did reveal conversations with his father Jos and Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko in response to the recent incidents, adding: “These are people who know about it and understand how it works.”
Interestingly, Vettel’s response to Verstappen after what happened in China was much calmer than perhaps expected, with an immediate conversation between the two after the race seemingly the reason.
However, commenting on the situation, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner does see a comparison between Max and the German when he was at the same point in his career.
“Yes, he’s made some mistakes,” the Briton said via Autosport. “I remember when we had Sebastian at a similar stage in his career, it wasn’t uncommon that he also made some mistakes.
“I think he’d [Max] have learned a lot. He will put that to good use in the future, in the coming races.
“His talent is extremely obvious, his bravery and racing instinct is not in doubt. Obviously he was too impatient, and he will for sure learn from that, I’ve got absolutely no doubt.”
