Verstappen clarifies Villeneuve "deadly accident" remarks

Villeneuve suggested to Motorsport.com after Spa-Francorchamps that Verstappen was getting 'protection' from the FIA and that the Dutchman needed to be careful about his driving because there was a chance he could be involved in a fatal accident if his behaviour did not change.

Reports then appeared, translated from Dutch, stating that Verstappen had responded by saying: "He [Villeneuve] should be careful with his statements because he has already killed someone."

But with translations of Verstappen's originally use of the word 'doodgereden', having made it appear his claims were more sensational than he meant, the Dutchman made clear on Saturday that he was actually referring more to the overall discussion of fatal accidents.

When asked by Motorsport.com to clarify his remarks, Verstappen said: "Not everything was written down on one website what I said. To be clear, I said that it was disrespectful to the families to talk about deaths.

"I was referring to the incidents that happened in 2001. But they didn't write down my 'disrespect' to the family remarks. So it was not that I was picking on the family, I said it was disrespectful from his side to comment about that."

He said: "I didn't say 'death by driving'… I said it was a deadly accident."

Whiting discussion

Verstappen also explained that he was comfortable with how the situation with F1 race director Charlie Whiting had developed following his discussions on Friday morning.

"We had a chat about it," he said. "Maybe they are going to introduce the black-and-white flag again.

"We just wanted to have a discussion to clear everything, instead of doing it in the drivers' briefing. It is better to just go up to Charlie - Seb [Vettel], Kimi [Raikkonen] and I to have a chat with him."

When said if Whiting had asked him to change his approach, Verstappen said: "They didn't see it as something wrong. Maybe it was on the edge. And then maybe they would introduce a black-and-white flag if it happened again."

What Verstappen said

Here is the full transcript of the questions to Verstappen - and his responses - said in Dutch with a translation below.

Villeneuve zegt dat je beschermd wordt.

Villeneuve says you get protection.

"Maar hij moet een beetje oppassen met zijn uitspraken over dat iemand doodgaat want hij heeft zelf iemand doodgereden. Dus hij moet gewoon even rustig doen."

"But he has to watch his words a little with his statements about that someone will die because he himself 'drove someone to death' [No direct English translation]. So he just needs to calm down for a bit."

Daar erger je dus aan, daar wind je je wel over op.

So this bothers you, this does wind you up.

"Nee, uiteindelijk niet maar hij moet gewoon wel even naar zichzelf kijken naar wat hij in zijn carrière heeft gedaan. Ik vind het niet respectvol naar de familie toe van de persoon die overleden is."

"In the end, no, but he just needs to take a look at himself, to what he has done in his career. I find it disrespectful towards the family of the person who died."