Max Verstappen amused by criticism from F1 rival Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado said Verstappen was not "respecting the rules" as they fought over seventh place, with the Lotus driver ultimately coming out top.

Verstappen said he hadn't spoken to Maldonado, who has been involved in a number of incidents of his own during his F1 career, other than saying "good job" after Sunday's race.

Regarding Maldonado's comments, the Dutchman told AUTOSPORT: "It's quite funny that Pastor said that.

"It's the only thing I say about it, it's quite funny."

It's the second time this season that the 17-year-old rookie has found himself in the spotlight with a rival.

Verstappen crashed into the back of Romain Grosjean's Lotus in Monaco, with Williams veteran Felipe Massa suggesting Verstappen's driving was "pretty dangerous".

He was then warned in public by 2009 world champion Jenson Button, who was not impressed with the way Verstappen handled the situation in the press.

He was penalised for the Monaco collision with a grid penalty for the following race, but said afterwards he would not change the way he drives.

And Verstappen insisted he remains undeterred by the latest comments.

"I don't take it too seriously," he said.

"I'm enjoying myself, trying to defend my position and he [Pastor] would do exactly the same."

PROGRESS IN TESTING

Verstappen focused on longer runs and downforce comparisons during day one of the post-Austrian GP test in preparation for Silverstone.

"We improved the car compared to the race weekend so it was a good day," he said.

"We did some good comparisons on the car regarding the downforce levels and I think we learned a lot.

"Silverstone should suit us a bit better than Austria, where there is long straights but not so many fast corners.

"At Silverstone, you have long straights and fast corners so hope we can make some advantage there."