TAKE IT TO THE MAX
‘Some people may think I was lucky... but I deserve to be World Champion’
MAX VERSTAPPEN says it was karma that he ended up as F1’s world champ.
The Dutchman claimed his maiden title in controversial circumstances four months ago following a nerveshredding finale in Abu Dhabi that scuppered Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of a recordbreaking eighth crown.
But as the countdown continued towards this season’s opener in Bahrain, the Red Bull ace said he deserved his triumph.
He said: “The championship is won over a whole season – not by one decision in the last race. So, I think I deserved the title – absolutely.
“Maybe there are people out there who only watched the last Grand Prix. Maybe they think I was lucky.
“But normally the championship would have been decided in my favour a long time before that race.
“I lost a lot of points – twice – after being knocked out by another car. And I had a tyre blow-out in Baku.
“It was because of all that bad luck that it came down to that last race.”
Asked if he understood why Hamilton felt hard done by, he added: “Yes, if you look at how things went in Abu Dhabi.
“But, like I said, you have to watch the whole season – you don’t earn a title based on one race.”
Tempers frayed on the track throughout the season as both drivers refused to budge one single inch.
And that was also evident in the paddock too, as team principals Christian Horner from Red Bull and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff were involved in a number of spats.
Verstappen believes it was the close nature of the race to the finishing line – both for the drivers and constructors – that caused passions to spill over.
But he couldn’t help taking a sideswipe at Mercedes – a team that has had it all its own way during the past few years, as he revealed to Dutch paper De Telegraaf.
He said: “It was terribly close. Everyone was so eager to win the title, they pulled out all of the stops.
“Normally, one team has the upper hand a little more.
“Then it doesn’t have to be so hard and heated. I don’t expect it to happen as often as last year.
“But it showed how important it is to have a good team. That makes me better, too. I know I have a team that stands behind me completely.
“And they know also that I always give 110 per cent as soon as I jump in the car.”
But, asked if the controversy took the shine off his achievement, he added: “Possibly, yes. But I don’t care. At the end of the ride, it was a crazy and epic Formula 1 season. The losing team will try to take the shine off it a bit.
“But, on the winning side, it still feels good, I can assure you.”
The 24-year-old said that, while he felt vindicated overall, fans will now also see a calmer driver this season.
He said: “I want to win. But the hurried, almost desperate, need to win is gone. That doesn’t mean I’m less motivated.
“I’m still on the same level in that regard. Maybe I’m just more motivated because I want to do it again. But this does feel like a good way of thinking. It’s a bit more relaxed. In my first six seasons, I never had a chance to take a serious shot at the title.
“In the first year that it was possible, it worked immediately.”
And so, all eyes turn to the Middle East for the season’s opener where rivalries will be renewed.
Asked if he had messaged Hamilton, Verstappen added: “No, there was no reason to.
“We haven’t seen each other and that’s fine. We’re both drivers, we’re looking forward and going to get back to it.”