Max Verstappen reacted angrily to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff's criticism of his Formula One record for consecutive wins on Thursday, suggesting that his opponents would do better to draw inspiration from his accomplishments.
After Verstappen became the first F1 driver to win ten races in a row at the most recent race in Italy, Wolff claimed the achievement was "for Wikipedia" and "not something that would be important for me."
Verstappen revealed ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix that Wolff's comments were motivated by his frustration with Mercedes' poor performance in Italy, and he used an expletive to describe the team's race. Mercedes finished fifth with George Russell in fifth and Lewis Hamilton in sixth in Monza, failing to get near the Red Bull and Ferrari vehicles vying for the podium spots.
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Verstappen believes opponents can take inspiration from Red Bull's domination.
“I think it's just important that you focus on your team. That's what we do as well. That's what we did in the past as well when we were behind them and when they were dominating,” Verstappen said.
“And I think you should be able to appreciate when a team is doing well, which I think we've done in the past because it worked also as a kind of inspiration to see someone that dominant who was very impressive at the time. And we knew that we just had to work harder, try to be better and try to get to that level. And now that we are there, we are very happy of course that we are there and we are enjoying the moment and honestly, that's all I can say about it.”
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Singapore is one of only three circuits on the 2023 calendar that Verstappen has yet to win, together with the Qatar Grand Prix and the new race in Las Vegas. Last year, Red Bull colleague Sergio Perez won the race.
(With AP inputs)
