Verstappen remains tight-lipped: ‘Anything can be penalised’

Once again, the international media tried to provoke Max Verstappen, but to no avail. The reigning world champion is cautious, as he is not eager to face a penalty for being too critical. Instead, the Red Bull Racing driver prefers to focus his energy on improving his car, as time is of the essence.

It's the same story every week. Once again, during a press conference, Max Verstappen was asked by non-Dutch media about his driving style, and whether he plans to adjust it due to the risk of receiving a race ban at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.

Not for the first time, the world champion visibly simmered with anger, but remarkably managed to keep his cool and not give the international media what they were after.

Verstappen prefers to say no more

Several hours later, when Verstappen sat down with the Dutch media - including GPblog - the cynicism was significant. When someone remarks that it was another fun press conference, Verstappen responds in his typical manner: "Yes, delightful. Wonderful again. Really enjoyable."

The hostility from some of the media means that Verstappen prefers to remain silent rather than provide detailed answers during these press moments, and he is particularly careful with what he says. "Definitely. And you don't always have to answer certain questions. Then I just say nothing. No comment."

Max Verstappen is careful with his words in Austria

For those who are yet to realise it: Max Verstappen is definitely not going to change his approach, even with a race ban hanging over his head. It's possible that the Red Bull Racing driver even thinks that he is judged differently by the stewards than some of his fellow F1 drivers - though Verstappen doesn't say this out loud. But why does he get penalty points while rivals often get away with nothing for similar incidents?

When asked, Verstappen says: "I'm not allowed to be critical. Then it gets written down. 'Max says this, Max says that.' They can also take offence at that. Anything can be perceived as critical, and you can be penalised for that. That's very clear in the regulations."

"They might take it as: 'This is critical of us', so I'd rather say nothing."

Last chance for Verstappen?

Verstappen is more concerned with improving the Red Bull Racing's RB21. Several weeks ago, the reigning champion hoped that the Austrian team would close the gap to McLaren, but his conclusion now is: "Just look at the results, then you'll know enough."

"In Canada, we also had effectively the fifth quickest pace of all the drivers. We did everything right in terms of strategy; aggressive and it was hard to overtake. And luckily, in that last stint, the tyre didn't fall apart. But if you purely look at the speed, we were the fifth fastest."

It's now or never for Verstappen and Red Bull. The coming weeks will be crucial for his - slender - chances of retaining the world title. Several upgrades are being deployed. "Hopefully it helps. But I don't know if it will be enough. The others are not standing still in the races up to the summer break," Verstappen rightly observes.