Formula One: Sorry dad! Max Verstappen admits he's not perfect

File photo of Max Verstappen (Reuters)

Max Verstappen has accepted his father’s criticism of his recent racing incidents and blamed himself for "wanting the victory too much".

The young Dutchman was involved in brushes with title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel at the Chinese Grand Prix where he finished fifth and Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo won the race.

“My dad is the hardest critic of everyone in the whole world, so if I can handle him I can handle anyone,” said Verstappen, of his father Jos, a former F1 driver.

“You're not perfect, nobody is perfect, you can always improve. I am very happy to listen and also improve."

Verstappen failed in a lunging effort to pass Hamilton, which forced him off the track in Shanghai, and then collided with Vettel.

"Of course, I'm not there to finish fifth with the car I had at that time, but maybe I wanted that victory too much,” he conceded. “Maybe that cost me.”

He added that he felt he had “a fair chance” to pass Hamilton’s Mercedes, but said “what Lewis did I would have done the same.

“In the middle of the corner, he just ran me a bit wide...but it was fair racing.”