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In his relatively short career, he has gone to the top of his career with the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen on numerous occasions – and in Suzuka fiber and more finger pointing.
In the opening 20 laps of the Japanese GP, Verstappen was involved in the production of the film, and although it survived the two incidents to finish where he started in third, the Dutchman was left upset Raikkonen's five-second time penalty.
Verstappen comes together with Raikkonen on lap 1
Verstappen was stung by the stewards for re-joining the circuit in an unsafe way after locking up at the chicane and then banging wheels with Raikkonen when coming back onto the track.
The 21-year-old said he was aggrieved that he'd been penalized by trying to do things by the book.
"I got a little bit too late into the chicane so I did everything I could to get back onto the track. I thought it was a safe way because I was not crazy fast on the track.
"Kimi's goal is the wrong line in the chicane." I think it's really ridiculous those five seconds – but we managed to survive that.
"Looking back at it, if I get a five-second penalty for that then I'll just cut the track and do like Valtteri [Bottas did], "He added later, referring to Bottas' lap 48 lock-up at the chicane. "I was just trying to make the corner, not making it look like I lock up and just cut the corner. But I know what to do next time. "
Verstel was similarly pointed in his analysis of his lapse with Vettel, which saw the spin of the Red Bull during a botched overtaking attempt at Spoon Curve.
Vettel, whose title has been taken over by the Dutchman, would be more likely to say that he should not be too aggressive, saying "he pushes when you should not push" – Verstappen was having none of it.
Vettel spins after failed overtaking attempt on Verstappen
"In that corner you can not overtake. I even gave him space but he understeered into my car.
"For me it was a bit similar to China this year where I made the mistake because it was a lot faster and more easily. So I think the most experienced drivers make these mistakes.
I thought it was a similar scenario to China and I got a penalty there. But at the end of the day, it is like it is. It's just not nice that it happens. "
Should Vettel be better than to attack as he did? His boss at Red Bull Christian Horner certainly thought so.
"You know with Max he's never going to give an inch," he reasoned. "Obviously it's cost Sebastian dearly today."
Second not possible
Despite the damage on his car, Verstappen was able to close drastically on Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the race, making the most of his talent with the Finn on the harder mediums.
However, Verstappen revealed afterwards that he felt he'd be fighting an uphill battle, despite forcing the Finn into a couple of errors.
"I think he was pushing, because otherwise you do not go off the track. But you can not really follow that close [at this track], and we do not really have the top speed.
If you have the best speed then you may have a chance. We were just trying to be as close to a mistake as possible, but it did not happen. I'm still very happy with third. "
Verstappen has now scored three successive podiums at Suzuka, and seven rostrums this year. Behind the Dutchman, team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth – the first time.
"Hopefully we can take this momentum in Austin and especially Mexico," said Horner. "That's the next one we're pinning our hopes on."
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