Verstappen unrepentant over Spa driving style despite Ferrari criticism - MotorSportsTalk

Max Verstappen has no plans to change his driving style despite facing criticism from Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel following clashes in last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen clashed with Raikkonen and Vettel at Turn 1 at Spa, leaving all three with damage that compromised their races.

Verstappen came under fire for a later incident involving Raikkonen where he appeared to move in the braking zone and forced the Finn off-track at one point while defending his position.

The incidents prompted angry responses from both Vettel and Raikkonen, who said that talks with Verstappen may be required to curb his aggressive on-track antics.

However, Verstappen is not willing to dwell on the past and won’t be making any changes to his driving style in response to the criticism offered.

“To be honest, for me Spa is done,” Verstappen said.

“I think in general it was a great weekend. I enjoyed it a lot, especially to see so many fans to come to the track with the orange colours, it was amazing to see.

“So for me, what happened in the race, that can happen sometimes. Just focus ahead to Monza.

“I’ll try to push again and just do my thing, and show my driving style like it was before.”

Verstappen believes that all three drivers involved in the clash can learn from it, before putting it down as a racing incident.

“It happens sometimes in a race. The stewards didn’t give any penalty to any one of us,” Verstappen said.

“That’s fine, I think we all learned from it as well. Even when you are a very experienced driver you can still learn.

“It’s about what we can learn from it to do different next time. I don’t know what we should have done different, maybe we should have given a bit more space.

“From my side, it was a bit difficult to give more space. It can happen. It was a kind of unlucky situation because Sebastian didn’t see what was on the inside of Kimi.”

Verstappen’s aggressive defence was compared to that of Michael Schumacher during his battle with Mika Hakkinen back in 2000, prompting outcry from the latter.

“I think Michael is still a seven-time world champion…” was Verstappen’s response when asked about the comparison.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”