I have the wrong passport for the F1 paddock

Max Verstappen says he has “the wrong passport” for the Formula 1 paddock, despite his driving tactics at last week's Mexican Grand Prix being heavily criticized.

In Mexico City, Verstappen received a double 10-second penalty for two incidents in which he pushed McLaren title rival Lando Norris off the track, sparking discontent among various colleagues over his aggressive driving style in the title fight.

Verstappen primarily defended himself against the strong criticism from British experts. Damon Hill, former Formula 1 world champion and Sky analyst, wondered whether the three-time champion was even capable of racing fairly.

Meanwhile, Johnny Herbert, the FIA ​​drivers' commissioner in Mexico, suggested that Verstappen deliberately let Norris drive off at Turn 7 to ensure Ferrari's Charles Leclerc passed, and hampered Norris' title bid by reducing the number remaining The Briton reduced points.

Verstappen initially shrugged off Hill's comments at the FIA ​​press conference for the Brazilian Grand Prix, but when he later spoke to Dutch-speaking journalists, he was amused that he appeared to be of the wrong nationality in order to be treated fairly by the media and stewards .

“I know how most people are, this is nothing new,” he said. “Last year was perfect, so it must have hurt a lot for a lot of people that they couldn’t say anything negative.”

“Now they have a chance to say something, so they can all get out of trouble. At the end of the day I have the wrong passport for this paddock.”

Verstappen called Herbert's theory “a pretty extreme accusation” and insisted he did not intentionally drive away Norris at Turn 8.

“I didn't do anything on purpose. You can’t look inside my head,” he said. “That’s a pretty extreme accusation. We just drove a hard race.”

While Verstappen questioned the size of the penalty for his incident with Norris at Turn 4, he admitted that the second 10-second penalty for his maneuver at Turn 8 was fair. But he didn't feel like there was any reason to do things differently from now on.

“You win some, you lose some,” he said of the result of his turn 8 lunge. “It depends. Every situation is different and it’s always easy to revisit it in hindsight.”

“It happened, we just need to make sure we have a more competitive car so we don’t end up in that situation again because that’s where it starts.”

Behind Verstappen's bias is also the punishment for his community service sentence for swearing in Baku's press conference, while Leclerc has not yet been slapped on the wrist for a similar offense in Mexico.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“[Herbert] I had big opinions about what I said in the press conference [in Baku]but I didn't hear him after the press conference in Mexico.

“Actually, what [Leclerc] What I said is worse than what I said in this context, and it was a much more important press conference with more people watching. But you know, I'm not going to spend any time on it. It is what it is.

Motorsport.com understands the FIA ​​is still considering whether Leclerc's swearing at the post-race press conference in Mexico needs to be investigated further. A call is expected for the Brazilian GP weekend.