Verstappen hits back at Villeneuve’s criticism
Max Verstappen has thrown more oil on the fire in Monza when he was confronted by the media about the criticism by former world champion Jaques Villeneuve. The 18-year-old thinks he did everything in a legal way.
Verstappen attracted huge attention in the Belgian GP a week ago where he was involved in several crashes and showed dangerous moves while battling with the Ferrari duo of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel.
Many questioned Verstappen’s defending tactics and many believed Verstappen should have been penalized for his overambitious and dangerous manoeuvres. Mercedes’ non-executive chairman Niki Lauda stated that Verstappen should have visited the “psychiatry” if he could not realize that he went too far that time.
1997 world champion Jaques Villieneuve was also furious and disgruntled to see Verstappen endanger his rivals.
“You will kill someone,” said the angry Villeneuve after the widely discussed Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.
Verstappen however stands by his judgement, sticks to his former statements and defends himself by hitting back at Villeneuve.
“He should be careful with his statements because he has already killed someone,” said the young Dutchman to the Dutch broadcaster NOS.
Verstappen referred to an incident between Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher. The Canadian collided with the German in the 2001 Australian GP and he flew over the Williams-BMW and crashed into a fence. During the crash, a wheel got loose and hit a marshal, Graham Beveridge who succumbed to his injuries.
“He should look at himself. What he says is disrespectful to the family of the dead marshal,” concluded Verstappen.
