Verstappen reckons Wolff should appreciate F1 dominance after Wikipedia dig
Max Verstappen reckons Mercedes boss Toto Wolff should be more appreciative of his successes following the Austrian's dismissal of the reigning champion's streak of 10 Formula 1 victories.
The Dutchman claimed his 10th consecutive win at Monza to beat the F1 record for most successive victories, set jointly by Sebastian Vettel and Alberto Ascari.
Wolff was not particularly forthcoming with praise after Verstappen had broken the record, stating it was "for Wikipedia and nobody reads that anyway".
In his riposte, Verstappen said that he was not particularly bothered by Wolff's comments, but was surprised that Mercedes' prior dominance in F1 didn't mean he was more appreciative of Red Bull's achievements.
"I'm not disappointed in that, but they had a pretty shit race, so he probably was still pissed off with their performance," Verstappen countered.
"I don't know, he almost sounds like he's an employee of our team sometimes, but luckily not!
"I think it's just important that you focus on your own 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.
"And I think you should be able to appreciate when a team is doing really well, which I think we've done in the past, because it worked also as a kind of inspiration.
"To see someone that dominant was very impressive at the time and we knew that we just had to work harder and try to be better and try to get to that level.
"Now that we are there, we are very happy of course and we are enjoying the moment."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team and Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrariat the press conference
Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images
Verstappen can extend his run to 11 victories at the Marina Bay circuit, a venue that he has never won at before as Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez picked up the honours last season.
He added that there was no difference in pressure either side of his record-breaking run, and that securing it has changed little to the way he will approach the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
"I never really looked at the number - eight, nine, 10. I just always want to do the best I can," he said.
"So naturally every single weekend, it's basically the same amount of pressure you put on yourself to try and get the best result out of it. Nothing really changes actually from that side."
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