Jos Verstappen on son's Ferrari cheat claims: "Not smart, but understandable"

Ferrari's power unit was called into question recently, with the Italian team dominating the pace from the summer break onwards and their lack of speed at the weekend in America following the accusations was quite suspicious to some people.

Those people included Max Verstappen, who said: "You get that when you stop cheating", and these comments have received an angry backlash from some key members of Ferrari, including driver Charles Leclerc.

However, Max's father and former F1 driver Jos, completely understands why his son said it: "I saw it and thought: Oh no," Verstappen said to Ziggo Sport. "It might not have been the smartest statement, but I do understand Max, because he is very driven and wants to win.

"After the summer break, he had a zero percent chance against Ferrari and this weekend there was a difference. I think everyone knows that Ferrari used a loophole. It explains why sometimes they are suddenly extremely fast on the straight. It perhaps isn't cheating, but morally, it isn't quite right. I'm glad there is clarity now, because everyone was wondering what Ferrari was doing."