Max Verstappen has responded to Toto Wolff’s controversial opinion, saying that he doesn’t care about what happened in the past.
The title rivalry between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton has five more chapters to be written. Wolff played the role of spoiler, and suggested that with everything on the line, the two drivers may just collide into each other at some point.
This kind of thing has happened before. In 1989 and 1990, the championship was decided because of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost crashing into one another. According to the Mercedes Team Principal, such flashpoints cannot be dismissed as possibilities.
Verstappen responded to Wolff’s controversial opinion, and said that what happened in previous years is irrelevant to him.
“I don’t really think about previous historic fights between two drivers, what they have done,” the Red Bull driver said, as quoted by GP Fans.
“That is the past and I just focus on what I have to do on track, of course, and that is to try and do the best I can.
“That is how, at the end of the day, you are going to win the championship. To try to get the most available points out there and of course, try to beat your rival.”
Diamond under pressure
Verstappen is currently fighting for a maiden F1 title. He heads to Mexico with a 12-point lead, but is aware like everyone else that it is not a safe one at all.
When asked how he copes with the pressure, he replied, “I like what I am doing, so that takes the pressure off.
“It’s not the first time I’ve been in a championship fight. Yes, it’s the first time in Formula 1 but not in my life. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really change because you need to win, and that is what I have been doing in the past, so I just need to do the same here.
“Like I have said already at previous races, when the car is capable of winning, I will win. If the car is not capable of winning, I will not win,” he concluded.
Read more: Wolff delivers harsh verdict on Bottas – “He’s certainly nothing like Hamilton or Verstappen”