Max Verstappen is used to visits from the stewards. In the past, he has had strong opinions about stewarding, but after the Qatar Grand Prix he wisely kept his mouth shut.
He explained that he was not surprised by the grid penalty imposed on him. "No surprises I knew already last night, I never get presents from them so it's okay," he explained to Sky Sports.
"I started seventh and was motivated to move ahead. Had a good first lap and then was second again after 5 laps. Tried to keep the gap small to stop them doing an extra stop which gave me the fastest lap so I was happy with that."
Verstappen minces few words about FIA
"The gap was bigger than it was at the end because of the extra stop, not too bad. In the race it's going to be tricky," said the Red Bull driver about the last two races on the calendar. "We need to stay focused and with two races to go anything is possible."
He is also asked about the news that team boss Christian Horner has been taken to task by the stewards. "I don't even know what it is about," said Verstappen. "Racing is not complicated. You have a brake pedal, throttle pedal and a steering wheel. We know what to do as drivers. Everything else is not really relevant," concludes the Red Bull Racing driver.