Villeneuve Says that Max Verstappen is Still a Child

Former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at Max Verstappen and his ‘childishness’. The Dutchman drew a lot of flak for threatening to “head butt” journalists in Montreal.

During the Thursday press conference ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver Verstappen was asked about his recent spate of crashes. Understandably angered by the pestering, the 20-year old issued the threat.

“The journalist’s role is to report facts, even if Verstappen answered the question a hundred times,” Villeneuve said.

“The responsibility of the driver is to answer — if the question is justified.  But Verstappen had no right to take offense and react in that way,”. 

“You need to be aware of your mistakes in order to progress, and he has not done that.  Instead he showed a lack of respect and education.

“In some ways he is still a child.  He was dragged out of the cradle and put into a car.  That’s probably why he is not at Ricciardo’s level and even looks bad.

“If Red Bull considers him to be the future, he must beat his teammate.  In the meantime, the opposite is true. He is overrated,” Villeneuve concluded.

The 1997 World Champion is certainly had it in for a few drivers, Verstappen and Villeneuve’s compatriot Lance Stroll among them. His agitations even led to the Williams team banning him from their garage.

Fortunately, Stroll and teammate Sergey Sirotkin have chosen to ignore him and carry on. It would certainly be in Verstappen’s best interests to take Villeneuve’s comments with a pinch of salt.

Verstappen certainly answered a few critics with a deserved 3rd place in the Canadian GP. He finished behind winner, Sebastian Vettel and 2nd placed Valtteri Bottas.

The next race on the calendar is the French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard, a track where nobody has raced on.