LE CASTELLET, France -- Max Verstappen hit out at his recent critics after finishing on the podium at the French Grand Prix and questioned whether Sebastian Vettel's first-lap error would receive the same attention.
Vettel ran into the back of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas at Turn 1, taking both men out of contention helping Verstappen claim an unlikely podium for Red Bull. Like Bottas, Vettel was forced to pit his damaged car at the end of the first lap, but was also handed a five-second penalty to serve at his second stop of the race.
After the race Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda suggested Vettel should have been punished more severely, but Verstappen's thoughts on the incident centred around the events of his own season so far. The Dutchman endured a tough start to 2018 and faced heavy criticism following a run of high-profile incidents, although his recent form suggests he has turned a corner.
When the top three were asked about the severity of Vettel's penalty in the post-race press conference, Verstappen joked: "Yeah, I think next time you see Seb you should ask him to change his style, obviously it's not acceptable!
"That's what they said to me in the beginning of the season, I think you should do the same, and of course Seb shouldn't do anything, he should just drive again and learn from this and go on. That's my advice to everyone in this room."
Verstappen thinks it is wrong to focus so much attention on individual mistakes.
Speaking later to Sky Sports about the comments, he said: "I think they shouldn't do it at all. I mean mistakes happen in life, and it happens for the best of us as you can see for today.
"To be honest, it just makes me angry because for sure it won't be as bad on him than it was to me, and all the time they came to me that I should change my approach, and all these stupid comments, but yeah, I didn't change a thing and now everything is going right, so mistakes happen, and it's alright, we're all human."