Max Verstappen has lashed out at his rivals, telling them they do not have a ‘championship-winning mentality’.

The Dutchman sealed a fourth consecutive world title last weekend, beating Lando Norris to the top of the leaderboard.

Debate has raged over whether Verstappen would have achieved the feat in another car. The 27-year-old suggested he would have won the title sooner had he been in Norris’ McLaren, and the British driver responded by telling his rival he should take up comedy.

In comments that were not explicitly aimed at Norris but certainly felt like a dig at the man who heaped plenty of pressure on Verstappen over the course of the season, Red Bull’s star man says his competitors do not have the mentality to win the championship.

“On the track I will put it all on the line. I am not going to back out. I want to win,” Verstappen said ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

“That needs to be the end result. Some people criticise me for that. But most of them don’t have a championship-winning mentality so they don’t understand and they will never understand that kind of approach.”