Max Verstappen believes Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost would have approved of his robust defensive driving at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Verstappen has come under criticism since Budapest for the way he held off Kimi Raikkonen in the battle for fifth. Jenson Button has said Verstappen did "the most dangerous thing" a driver can do by moving in the braking zone, while Raikkonen himself used the incidents to highlight inconsistencies in how stewards hand out penalties during races.
Verstappen seemed unfazed by the criticism during Hockenheim's media day, saying two of the great champions of the past would have been in favour.
"I think generally I was very happy to not get a puncture because I got quite a big cut on my tyre," Verstappen said. "I think it was all pretty clear, there was nothing said from the stewards as well so I think I didn't do anything wrong.
"At the end of the day we are fighting in the championship with Ferrari so it's not like you say 'thank you very much, the door is open, you can go', because he didn't do it to me as well after the first pit stop.
"You are fighting and it's not like we are on a Sunday drive, that's how I approach the race because we are there to fight and we are there to score points and I think Senna and Prost would have liked it as well."
A number of pundits have criticised Verstappen's driving since Hungary, including Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle.
When asked specifically about criticism from former drivers, the 18-year-old said: "Everybody can have criticism can't they? It's nice, there are some stories we have to read. It's OK. It fills up my day as well so it's good."