Verstappen fires back at Rosberg: 'He is the new Villeneuve!'

Max Verstappen has hit back at former world champion Nico Rosberg after the Dutchman's Belgian Grand Prix performance was given short shrift on the ex-driver's YouTube channel.

Verstappen's race was run after one corner at Spa-Francorchamps as he made contact with Kimi Raikkonen and a broken track rod sent him into the barriers on the run up Raidillon.

"Verstappen was back to his old self a little bit," Rosberg commented post-race. "Just too aggressive, really too aggressive. I don't understand how he just stays flat out even with the car broken."

When the criticism was put to Verstappen ahead of the Italian GP, the Red Bull driver was nonplussed, accusing Rosberg of attention-seeking and comparing him to another notoriously outspoken former champion.

"I am not very interested in what he says on his channels," Verstappen said.

"I think he is the new Jacques Villeneuve. He [Villeneuve] has come around, but now it looks like it's Rosberg who constantly wants to share a controversial opinion.

"Maybe he wants to attract viewers or something? He does it very often. At the beginning of this year he called me a narcissist. That is very extreme.

"Maybe he wants to earn money with his YouTube channel. If he have driven on longer, he could have earned much more."

Rosberg retired in 2016, mere days after beating rival and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to secure his maiden world drivers' championship.

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