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Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor
SINGAPORE — Max Verstappen has told Toto Wolff to focus on his own team after the Mercedes team principal labelled the Red Bull driver’s record of consecutive victories as “irrelevant”.
Verstappen secured his 10th win in a row at the Italian Grand Prix, moving one clear of the record previously held by Sebastian Vettel.
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When asked about the record at Monza on the evening of the race, Wolff said it was only “for Wikipedia”, adding that the same sort of records were also irrelevant when Mercedes was dominating the sport.
When Wolff’s quotes were put to Verstappen ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, the championship leader issued a scathing response.
“They had a pretty s— race [at Monza], so probably he was still pissed off with their performance.
“He almost sounds like he’s an employee of our team sometimes, you know? But luckily not.”
Verstappen, who leads the drivers’ championship by 145 points, said Red Bull used to focus on its own team when it was struggling to match Mercedes and recommended Wolff does the same.
“I think it’s important that you focus on your own team,” Verstappen added. “We do and that’s what we did in the past as well when we were behind them and they were dominating.
“I think you should be able to appreciate when a team is doing really well, which I think we have done in the past because it worked also as inspiration to see someone that dominant, it was very impressive at the time.
“We knew that we had to work harder and try to be better, and now that we are there we are very happy and we are enjoying the moment. Honestly, that’s all I can say about it.”
The championship leader believes this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix represents the biggest threat to his run of victories.
The street circuit is often regarded as one of the toughest tracks on the calendar due to the intense heat and humidity in Singapore, and last year Verstappen only managed seventh place after starting out of position on the grid.
“I think we are not as competitive here as at other tracks,” Verstappen said. “The street circuits are a little bit tough for our car.
“I still think we can do a good job but it will be very tight.”
Source: www.espn.com