Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has rejected suggestions he should change his driving approach after being involved in incidents at every race this season. Preparing for the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend he remained defiant and was dismissive of criticism of the errors that have compromised his performances.

Verstappen is still only 20 years old but now in his fourth F1 season. He has always been bullish in defending his driving style but this has been the worst start in his career. Sixth in the championship, he has finished on the podium once and is 27 points behind his Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who is in third place.

After crashing in practice at the last round in Monaco the Dutchman missed qualifying. It was almost identical to his 2016 Monte Carlo crash and the fact that he does not seem to be learning from mistakes has raised questions about his approach.

When asked at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to explain why he had been involved in so many accidents, Verstappen announced that he had had enough of even talking about the subject. “I am tired of all the questions. If I get a few more I will headbutt someone.”

A typically feisty response but Verstappen knows he has questions to answer. In all six race meetings he has yet to turn in a clean weekend. Frustrated at losing a place to Kevin Magnussen in Australia he was overzealous trying to come back and damaged the floor of his car. He crashed in Bahrain qualifying and in the race got a puncture trying to pass Lewis Hamilton. The clumsy charge that caused him to hit Sebastian Vettel in China cost both drivers, while in Spain he damaged his front wing lapping Lance Stroll’s Williams after a safety‑car period.

Verstappen, though, was insistent he will stick to his guns on the track. “I get really tired of all the comments saying I should change my approach,” he said. “I will never do that because it has brought me to where I am now. I am confident I can turn things around. The speed is there, I have always been quick every weekend. It would be much more of a problem if I had been slow because that is a critical problem.”

Last season the team put their weight behind him, signing him until the end of 2020 but, after Monaco, Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, warned that he expected more from his driver. “He needs to learn from it and stop making these errors,” he said.

Hamilton, meanwhile, fears he will not be able to fight for victory in Canada. His Mercedes team were due to bring an engine upgrade with them but it will not be ready until the next race in France later this month.

“If the other teams have got fresh engines, given how close we are, we won’t be in a position to fight for the win,” Hamilton said. “This is a power circuit so it was our target to use the new engine, which definitely would have been helpful.

“It is unfortunate but we will have to make do without it, and that means our performance will not be the greatest.”