Verstappen urged to 'think more' by father

Max Verstappen has been urged to "think more" on the track by his own father, Jos, following an incident during the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday which saw the Red Bull driver attempt to overtake Sebastian Vettel only to clip the German to tear him away from his P2 status after surrendering P1 shortly before after a pit.

Verstappen is viewed as perhaps the best young driver to come through the ranks of Formula One since Lewis Hamilton and has become known for his aggressive driving style, always looking to take advantage of any space which opens up ahead.

However, his eagerness to overtake in Shanghai meant that Vettel lost his position in P2 (following a pit) having led for the entire Grand Prix as the pair collided, with the Ferrari cars spinning around.

Jos Verstappen has pleaded with his boy to think things through more before making on-track decisions.

“That wasn’t possible," Verstappen Sr. told Ziggo when asked if his son should have attempted the overtake.

"It was an error of judgement. In some circumstances Max just has to think more.

“I don’t want him to change his driving style. He passed two people at the start. He did that perfectly. That’s what we all want to see. But we don’t want to see these kinds of actions. He needs to have it under control. He needs to think.”

The incident came one week after Verstappen crashed into Hamilton in Bahrain, but Jos has absolved Max of blame in that particular collision.

"I don't think there was anything wrong with that, I still think it was a good move," he added.

"Afterwards you could say Max should have given Hamilton more room, but Hamilton could have done the same to Max. That's why it's a racing incident and they're both taking the blame."

The Red Bull man sought out Vettel to apologise after the crash on Sunday, but the calls for the 20-year-old to calm down have been echoed by F1 legend Niki Lauda who is expecting more maturity from Verstappen.

"When you compete in more races, you should get more clever, especially when you want to win or challenge for the championship," Mercedes' non-executive chairman said.

"But he is going the other way. He needs to sort himself out. Nobody can help him."