It took just one question for Max Verstappen to dismiss the notion that a very real threat of a one-race ban might impact his uncompromising approach to racing at this weekend's Formula 1's Canadian Grand Prix.
Verstappen arrives in Montreal with 11 penalty points to his name, one short of an automatic suspension, following a controversial clash with George Russell at the previous race at Barcelona.
A frustrated Verstappen called colliding with the Mercedes driver a "misjudgement" at the race, then fessed up further 24 hours later with a surprising statement in which he said it should not have happened.
But when asked at the very start of his media session in Montreal if anything had changed for this race being so close to a ban, Verstappen simply replied: "No. Back to having a little bit of jetlag. But besides that nothing changed."
Why wouldn't you change your approach given the risk, Verstappen was asked a few questions later.
"I don’t know," he replied. "Why should I?"
It is a stance that will delight his fans and infuriate his critics, but this was Verstappen in a nutshell: blunt, dismissive and self-assured. It was much more in keeping with what the four-time world champion is usually like around controversy than his post-Spain statement in which he held his hands up.
Verstappen said that statement was merely "sharing my view of things, how I thought that race panned out - and then I went back to enjoying my day". Although Russell couldn't resist a semi-dig over it, saying in his own media session: "I was a bit surprised to see him taking responsibility, because it's quite unlike him."
For Verstappen, this is a matter he is clearly keen to leave in the past. The majority of his media session passed with a lot of questions and not very illuminating or expansive answers. He didn't want to discuss whether it was fair to be so close to a ban - "I don't know...life is not fair, if you look at it like that" - and kept coming back to a key tenet: "I will always race hard, race how I think I should race."
Verstappen has repeatedly said he does not believe he is in a title fight this year despite being third in the standings behind leader Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. He lost a lot of ground in Spain, though, where his error against Russell meant his points deficit doubled in a single afternoon.
But that, to Verstappen, is irrelevant. "I cannot just back out of everything," he said about whether he might be more cautious if he was closer to the two McLaren drivers in the championship, the implication being a ban would be more costly.
"I’m just going to race like I always do. I trust myself."
Verstappen did at least elaborate on the frustration he felt at Barcelona, where Red Bull had been competitive and used a different strategy to keep McLaren under pressure - only for a late safety car, and a switch to hard tyres with no usable softs or mediums left, to leave Verstappen vulnerable at the restart.
That ultimately started the chain of events that led to his Russell clash, including an incorrect judgement by Red Bull that Verstappen needed to let Russell past having - incorrectly - assumed the stewards were going to penalise him for going off-track to stay ahead of Russell in a previous fight.
"It’s difficult to say why or how exactly," he said. "It was also just the communication with letting the car by. That was already not correct from my side.
"And if you look at the onboards, we should have just continued when I first got that call.
"And then just the whole end of that race was quite frustrating for us because up to then we actually had a good race.
"We did the right strategy for our car and we at least put a bit of pressure on McLaren at a race where they were again very fast compared to everyone else. But just a frustrating end."
He added: "It was just a few very frustrating laps in a row. I get driven into on the straight [by Charles Leclerc] after I almost crashed already with these hard tyres.
"Then I got driven into into Turn 1, then they tell me that I have to give the place back. I’m like ‘that makes no sense’.
"It was just a lot of things that came together."
That was as much as Verstappen wanted to relive Barcelona, which meant it was back to questions about a ban, and tight answers - a selection of which really captures Verstappen’s unique combination of disdain and disinterest for what he clearly views as a non-story.
What would a ban mean to you?
"Not ideal."
Are you going to do anything to avoid it?
"I'm not here, of course, to try to get a ban."
You'll still have eight licence penalty points even when three expire after the next race in Austria, so it will still be a story.
"Maybe for you, not for me. I don't think about it."
Would it be bad for F1 if you were lost for a race?
"Ask them."
On track and off it, Verstappen will not change.
