Double World Champion Max Verstappen is known for being an unforgiving competitor and someone who will not hesitate in informing his team when they’ve done something wrong; however, the Dutchman has admitted that this behaviour doesn’t show his true self, with him really being “quite calm”.
You don’t achieve the level of success that Verstappen has without ruffling a few feathers, something the 25-year-old has certainly done during his journey at the pinnacle of motorsport.
As recently as the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen was heard over the radio barking orders at the Austrians personnel, with the Dutchman seemingly putting his own team in their place.
A lot of his anger is heard over the radio rather than being seen in the garage, with the Red Bull driver having also lost his cool following a DRS failure during the Spanish Grand Prix.
READ: Guenther Steiner warns Stefano Domenicali about letting new teams enter F1
For Verstappen, though, he sees these incidents as him being “upset” rather than “actually being angry”, with the 35-time GP winner believing that “people perceive” him as being a certain way.
“Yeah, because I’m upset that things are not going right,” the Dutchman told The New York Times.
“For me, that’s not even actually being angry. That’s maybe how other people perceive me being upset, but I think me being really upset, that happens very, very rarely.”
Given how many times he’s shouted over the radio in recent years, many would label the Dutchman as a fiery character; however, he actually views himself as “quite calm”.
Verstappen’s calm nature appears to be as a result of his lifestyle, which actually involves little to do with F1 when at home.
“People might think differently, but I’m actually quite calm,” he continued.
READ: Lando Norris warned Max Verstappen could ‘end his career’
“I don’t really get upset with many things. It just doesn’t bother me. I know what I have to do here [in F1], and that’s trying to drive as fast as I can on track.
“When I go home, I also want to do other things, but it doesn’t take a lot of energy for me to keep switching between the two, because I do find what I do is super important but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t really work out.
“That’s how I’ve always seen it, but I know that once I jump in the car, I will always try to get the best out of myself, and also out of the team.”