MONTREAL — Max Verstappen vowed to “race like I always do” despite finding himself on the verge of a one-race ban.
Even a minor transgression at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix or the Austrian Grand Prix could sideline the reigning world champion for the next event.
The Dutchman’s controversial slam into the side of George Russell’s Mercedes two weeks ago in Spain moved him to 11 penalty points, one away from the maximum allowed in a 12-month period.
Verstappen, famed for his all-or-nothing approach to close quarters racing, promised to stick to that mindset across the next two weeks.
“No, nothing changes. No [change in approach],” he said. “I cannot just back out of everything. I’m just going to race like I always do, I trust myself. Is it fair that I’m on 11 points? I don’t know. But at the same time, life isn’t fair. I don’t worry about it, I just come here to race and I will always race hard.”
“I’m not here, of course, to try and get a ban.”
Penalty points can be dished out by the stewards for a range of things from causing a collision to not slowing correctly for a virtual safety car.
Asked if he thinks its fair he has found himself on a cusp of a ban, he said: “I don’t need to go into that to be honest. I mean, what is fair?
“If you look at it like that. I don’t worry about it. I just come here to race.
“And I will always race hard. Race how I think I should race. And then we go on to the next race.”
Verstappen had initially been unapologetic in the media interviews after the Spanish Grand Prix, although he later shared a post to social media saying the incident with Russell “was not right” and “shouldn’t have happened.”
The Dutch driver stopped short of a public apology to Russell, but admitted the moment had been an error of judgement on his part.
“[The post was] sharing my view of things, how I thought that race panned out. Not ideal for me, but that was my statement. And then I went back to enjoying my day.
“It was a misjudgment, you know, clearly in the corner. But you don’t need to go into full detail of why, how and what. Everyone makes mistakes in life. Everyone learns from them and we just move on.”
Verstappen is third in the championship, 39 points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.