F1 News: Max Verstappen Responds To Risking A Penalty For Fastest Lap Backlash -"Laugh About It"

Max Verstappen laughed about his track limits with Red Bull's Helmut Marko after the race.

Max Verstappen disobeyed his Red Bull team after being told he shouldn't push for the fastest lap as the Spanish Grand Prix began to draw to a close. The Dutch driver had been toying with track limits for the majority of the race, finally resulting in a black and white flag after multiple warnings, but when given the challenge of a fastest lap, he didn't back down, despite his team telling him not to risk it. Now, he's responded to the backlash he received.

The driver finished 24 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton who finished P2, so had no reason to extend his lines over the limits of the Barcelona track. But in a show of complete control over his RB19, he was able to push the boundaries of not only the rules, but his own performance as he secured a 1:16:330 time on lap 61 of 66, taking the record away from teammate Sergio Perez. 

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Reflecting on the Sunday's racing, Verstappen wasn't too bothered by his disobeying of team rules:

"Well, I kept it within the white lines, I just went a bit faster on the lap. So I didn't do anything wrong. 

"They don't know how much pace I have in the car, right, when they tell me this is the fastest lap, don't bother, but I knew that I could do it."

Continuing to discuss his track limit warnings, admitting that he and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko laughed about it after the race:

"I just had to keep it within the white lines but this is something I think we can laugh about already. 

"I was laughing about it with Helmut after the race so I'm pretty sure that they're quite happy."