Motor racing-No change for Verstappen despite race ban risk

The Star

17 hours ago

Formula One F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - June 12, 2025 Red Bull's Max Verstappen ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger
MONTREAL (Reuters) -Max Verstappen sees no need to change the way he goes racing despite the threat of a race ban hanging over him at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Red Bull's four-times world champion is a penalty point away from triggering the automatic ban after a controversial collision with Mercedes rival George Russell at the previous Spanish Grand Prix.
Speaking to reporters at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Verstappen said the situation changed nothing for him.
"Why should I?" he said, when asked about racing differently.
"I mean, I cannot just back out of everything. I'm just going to race like I always do. I trust myself," added the Dutch driver, who has recognised what he did in Spain was wrong and should not have happened.
Verstappen explained his apology by saying he had just wanted to share his views on how the race panned out before getting on with enjoying his day.
The apology, he added, had not been hard to make and he accepted he made a misjudgement without going into the what's and why's.
"Everyone makes mistakes in life. Everyone learns from them and we just move on from it," he said.
Asked whether he deserved to be on the brink of exclusion, a situation he recognised as "not ideal", Verstappen shrugged.
"What is fair? Is it fair that I'm on 11 (penalty) points? I don't know. But at the same time, life is not fair. If you look at it like that, I don't worry about it," he said.
"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 is third in the championship, 49 points behind McLaren's leader Oscar Piastri after nine of 24 races. The Red Bull driver has won twice this season.
The Dutchman won in Canada in 2024, after starting second on the grid, but recognised the situation was a bit different a year on with McLaren winning seven times already in 2025.
"I think if we can fight for a podium, fighting with Ferrari and Mercedes, that already would be a good achievement," added Verstappen.
"Last year Mercedes was very strong here. I think if you compare last year to now, maybe they're a bit more competitive as well. So it will be hard enough to already fight for a podium."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)