Pierre Gasly has hailed Max Verstappen for being ‘smart at using the rules’ and testing the limits in his bid to win a fourth straight Drivers’ Championship title.

Quizzed on his former Red Bull team-mate’s style of driving, Gasly said: “Max’s racing style is quite unique on the grid.

“It seems like if you go wheel to wheel to him, the outcome is quite open and slightly different from what you’ll face with other guys.

“Whether it’s fair or not, it’s another conversation. It’s guaranteed hard racing and the outcome can be… it seems unlikely to end up as an overtaking and can be an incident or a penalty.

“All of us who raced in karting [with Max] was the same. After many starts, I ended up in the grass because Max started behind me.

“It was just the way he used to race back then. He’s also quite smart at using the regulation and takes everything up to the limit.

“When you’re fighting for a world championship, that’s what you expect a guy like him to do.”