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Max Verstappen has described as “bulls**t” comments made by Toto Wolff after the Mercedes team principal attempted to explain why the Dutch driver had crushed team-mate Sergio Perez in qualifying for last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
After the session at Zandvoort, Wolff was asked for his thoughts on the remarkable 1.3secs gap between Verstappen and Perez, with the two-time F1 champion on pole position and the Mexican down in seventh.
“Bizarre!” remarked Wolff. “I mean, Checo is not an idiot.
“We have seen it all these years, Checo is a grand prix winner, a multiple grand prix winner. And he was (a winner) at Racing Point, so I cannot comprehend.
“We’ve seen that Max has destroyed every single team-mate that was with him. Whether it is his ability to create a car around himself that is just very tricky to control, but fast when you can (control it), and that creates those gaps.
“But 1.3? I obviously haven’t heard any explanations, but yeah, odd.”
Ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, in which Verstappen can set a new F1 record of 10 consecutive victories, he made his feelings clear as to what he thought about the remarks, that the car had not been built to his design request.
“Bullshit comments!” snapped Verstappen. “It’s not like that.
“I just drive the car the fastest way possible. I’m not there to tell the guys to give me more because that’s how I like it.
“I just say ‘Design me the fastest car and I’ll drive around that’ because every single year, every car drives a little bit differently.
“People ask ‘What is your driving style?’ My driving style is not something particular. I adapt to what I need for the car to go
quick.
“For me, what is very important is that you are able to adapt your driving style to what the car needs.”
After equalling Sebastian Vettel’s wins record from a decade ago by taking the chequered flag at his home race in Zandvoort on Sunday, Verstappen can now go one step further and claim the mark as his own.
The 25-year-old is someone who has long stated that records do not mean much to him, yet ahead of the race at Monza’s ‘Temple of Speed’ he stands on the brink of a feat never achieved before in F1.
Suggested to Verstappen by Speedcafe that he at least must appreciate the special significance of what could be achieved, he replied: “I never thought that I would win nine in a row, first of all.
“Now that we are here, of course, I try to win 10 but it’s more about I want to just win. It’s not about the number 10 in my head.
“Also that just helps a lot to focus on the weekend. It’s already difficult enough different with the different tyre choices we have to deal with. We’ll just get on with it and we’ll see what happens.”
Casting his mind back 10 years to when Vettel first achieved the record, Verstappen added: “I remember when he did it.
“I was like, ‘Wow! That’s just a crazy number. No one ever will do something like that – and here we are.
“It’s a crazy number, but also I’m not really too fixated on it.”
