Verstappen: People who criticise me crossing the line don’t have a champion’s mentality

Max Verstappen has insisted he’ll preserve crossing the road racing in Method 1 if he has to and steered those that don’t perceive do not need the “world champion mentality”.

After a dominant begin, Verstappen and Crimson Bull got here underneath strain from McLaren and Ferrari in 2024 and the Dutchman was challenged for the drivers’ title by Norris all through the second a part of the season.

That translated into on-track skirmishes in Austria after which in Austin and Mexico, with Verstappen handed two 10-second penalties in Mexico Metropolis for shoving Norris off the observe.

Whereas fuelling additional discussions over F1’s racing guidelines, Verstappen acquired a barrage of criticism from McLaren, followers and media.

However reflecting on his 2024 marketing campaign, Verstappen says he has no regrets as a result of he feels it’s a necessity in F1 to cross the road at instances. In an end-of-season interview with Dutch F1 broadcaster Viaplay, Verstappen was reminded of McLaren CEO Zak Brown’s feedback in Mexico that “Max is such an superior racing driver, I simply do not assume it’s good to drive like that”.

Responding to Brown’s feedback and the final backlash he confronted on his driving behaviour, he mentioned: “Sure, however they don’t have the world champion mentality. I’ll all the time go to the restrict to get essentially the most out of each race and if I’ve to pressure it, then that’s simply the way it goes. Generally you need to cross a line. Nicely, I do.”

Requested whether or not he had any regrets over how he edged Norris in the direction of the wall in Mexico, he mentioned: “No, in no way in that race. I feel I gained factors there.

“So like I mentioned, I’ll all the time do every thing to get the utmost outcome for a championship. And naturally, generally you need to go to the restrict or over the restrict, and never everybody understands that. Not everybody has that mentality.”

Verstappen added the Mexico fallout, in addition to McLaren’s half-hearted use of crew orders, have been some examples of McLaren’s relative lack of expertise in combating for championships, stating Norris may have overwhelmed him to the drivers’ title because the crew “completely” missed alternatives.

“They’ve had an excellent automotive this 12 months. However I feel it is also clear that they nonetheless had loads to study, so to talk, to actually continually compete,” he mentioned.

“In fact, they did effectively for the constructors’ championship, however they may have ready significantly better for the drivers’ championship.”

Extra reporting by Laurens Stade