I want to rely on my gut feeling. Isn't that what made great race drivers in the end?
— Max Verstappen
My career is more important than girls.
It changes from track-to-track, but when you are behind someone, you know after a few laps where they are weaker and stronger around the lap. You try to position yourself in the best possible way to attack them at a point they don't expect or at the point that they are just not as strong as you. That's how you try to get past.
Of course I am doing a good job, but you can always improve, and I just leave it up to people outside, around me or whatever, to judge on that.
If you start doubting yourself like that, thinking, 'Am I good enough?' - maybe there is a reason you're thinking that.
If you are a bit weak in your head, maybe you can train your mind, but it will never be your strong point.
I never even think of the mental side of things because I never had any issues.
You have to be patient: trust the team, that they can deliver a good job.
It's just racing. Sometimes you have difficult moments, and then you try to work hard, and you keep working hard, and you overcome the situation. It's as simple as that.
People always think they know better. In football, everybody thinks they can be head coach and do it better. It's the same in F1: they always know better, even if they have no experience of it.
This is what I have always done in my life, just racing and driving cars and go-karts fast.
We are getting way too much info in the cockpit. Sometimes I switch off the display in my car!
I'm normally not really an angry person. Maybe some other people have a different opinion.
Overtaking is one thing. That is an art. But defending as well. You should be able to defend your position.
My dad always told me you have to be as quick as you can straight away out of the box. Some people say, 'Feel your way into it; build it up.' No. My dad would say, 'Straight away, you have to be there.' And I think that helps to warm up your tyres and brakes to be on it a bit more from lap one.
You always have to believe in yourself, and I had that from karting.
I have good people around me, so I always have advice. A lot of people can talk to me, but it's me, of course, who still has to take that to the track and to perform.
If you haven't really raced a lot in lower categories, and you make the jump to Formula One, you have to learn in Formula One, and a lot more people are watching.
I want to win because I am the fastest out there instead, not by luck; then it means a lot more to you.
I get really tired of all the comments saying I should change my approach.
As a driver, it is important to focus on yourself and believe in yourself, and there shouldn't be a reason why, when you are in F1 and there is more attention, you change your approach.
For me, it doesn't matter if you are fighting a world champion or not.
I tell my engineers that they should not overload me with information.
Some drivers are like that. When they get a bit angry, they can perform better.
I just want to do the best I can every time.
It is not because others tell me I have to change my driving style that I will change.
Many people ask, 'What do you need mentally to succeed in F1?' I say, 'What do you mean mentally?'
I just enjoy it and drive as fast I can. But so many people think your psychology is such a massive thing. For me, it's not necessary.
The world championship is what I am here for.
I don't need people shouting at me to tell me what I did wrong.
Of course there will be difficult times, and there will be more in the future, but I know what I have to do in the car.
The biggest critic I have in my life is my dad, so everything else is just a breeze; it doesn't really matter to me.
