“I’m not too fussy about it” - Max Verstappen pushing Pierre Gasly wide in the Dutch F1 GP didn’t bother the Alpine driver

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was not too fired up after his wheel-to-wheel battle with Max Verstappen during the 2023 F1 Dutch GP last week. The two were extremely close to each other while going through the first couple of turns at Zandvoort, as Verstappen was trying to regain his lead after pitting for intermediate tires.

At Lap 6 on Turn 3, Max Verstappen overtook Pierre Gasly by slightly pushing him off the track. Though the move was sketchy, it was right on the limit and hence did not bother the Frenchman too much.

He explained how the wheel-to-wheel battle between the two was on the limit, but not over it. Speaking after the race about the tussle, Pierre Gasly said (via Planet F1):

“It was a wheel-to-wheel battle. I mean, Max knew that if you push me slightly wider on the paint in the wet, if I put a wheel on there, then I’ll just understeer wide. It was on the limit.

"Yeah, if I was in his position, and you’ve got to pass a car, you’ll play with the limit and that’s why you will try. So I’m not too fussy about it. It’s just racing. And yeah, close racing.”

Since the Alpine driver was not essentially racing against Max Verstappen in the Dutch GP, he did not push too hard to defend against the reigning world champion. At the end, the Red Bull driver won his home race, while Gasly finished third, standing on his first podium of 2023.

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Max Verstappen on how his father helped shape his exceptional career in F1

Max Verstappen recently opened up about his father, Jos Verstappen, and how he helped him in his F1 career. Jos himself was an F1 driver, but he was never able to win a race or a championship.

However, Max Verstappen explained how his father used the lessons from his own failed F1 career to shape up his son's career into perfection. Max told Sky Sports:

"From my dad's side, I think his career didn't go to plan, and I think it had a lot of potential. But again, he knew what went wrong, and he knew that it was very important to have the right people around you from a young age, to be guided in the right way."

He added:

"And I think that's what he did with me. So from all that happened in his career and what went wrong, he tried to prevent me from having really, and that's why I think when I grew up and got all the way to Formula 1 with him by my side, it helped me a lot to prepare."

Verstappen junior has won two F1 World Championships, and will most likely win the third in 2023. He is comfortably leading the championship with 339 points.