I’m a three-time world champion. I know what I’m doing – Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen said he is a “three-time world champion who knows what I am doing” after Damon Hill accused him of acting like Wacky Races villain Dick Dastardly.

A fired-up Verstappen also hit back at his critics for being “bias” and “very annoying” after his driving tactics were placed in the spotlight following his combined 20-second penalty for forcing rival Lando Norris off twice in Mexico.

In the build-up to this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos – the first of four concluding rounds – 1996 world champion Hill described Verstappen as “daft and like Dick Dastardly”, adding that he was unsure if the Red Bull driver was capable of driving fairly.

Responding to Hill’s comments, Verstappen said: “I don’t listen to those individuals. I just do my thing. I am a three-time world champion. It is my 10th year in Formula One. I know what I am doing.

“I listen to people that are close to me and objective and not just there to stir the…I cannot say the word because I will get another (penalty).

“Some people are being very annoying, and I know who those people are and I don’t pay attention to them. Some people are biased, it is fine, and it is not my problem at the end of the day. I continue with my life and I keep performing.”

The drivers are due to meet at the penultimate round in Qatar to iron out the rules of combat with F1’s regulator, the FIA.

Verstappen continued: “It is never going to be perfect. Even if you remove rules and you get into a battle, you then want more rules, because it is not clear what is allowed or not. Then you want fewer rules, and it keeps going left and right all the time.

Flashback to last year, when Max won his 17th race of the season