“With the title there is more peace. My dream has always been to win the World Cup once. Everything that comes now is a bonus. But I want to win again in the first race,” said the Dutchman on Monday evening in ServusTV. Red Bull driver Verstappen had become world champion for the first time after a controversial decision by the race management and a dramatic final lap a little more than a week ago in Abu Dhabi. Mercedes had initially lodged several objections, which prompted Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko to make critical statements. He dubbed Mercedes a “bad loser”.
“That arose from the whole situation over the season. At first the choice of words is perhaps a bit excessive,” said Marko in the program “Sport and Talk from Hangar-7”, more moderate. Regarding the tensions between him and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, Marko says: “We don’t go on vacation together. He’s doing a great job. And I try to get the best out of us. And then there are points of conflict here and there.”
Verstappen now also revealed internals. So he got a cramp in his leg on the decisive last lap. “That wasn’t so great. When I gave it full throttle, it hurt. But it doesn’t matter in the last round of a World Cup,” said the 24-year-old.
Team-mate Sergio Perez, who slowed Hamilton in for a long time during the last braking with inferior tires, played a decisive role in winning the title. “In the end he decided the race for us because Mercedes couldn’t stop. Without Checo I wouldn’t have become world champion,” says Verstappen with conviction.
About his personal relationship with Hamilton, Verstappen said: “In the end it was okay. Of course we had our moments and were maybe angry with each other. But we also had nice duels and overtaking maneuvers. So the respect is still there.”
Verstappen is convinced that Hamilton will be back at the start next year despite some resignation statements. “Usually he has to come back. Those are emotional words after the race.” The fact that Hamilton was knighted by Prince Charles after the lost World Cup was nice for the British. “I can’t become a sir in Holland. But I don’t need that either. I’m a racing driver. The title of world champion is enough.”
Marko hopes that Verstappen will stay with the team for a long time and praised his protégé over the clover. “It takes over the heart to see Max in a car that he pushes so skilfully to the limit. He is without a doubt the best driver I have ever worked with. He is unique in terms of speed, talent and will.”
2022 will be all about new cars in Formula 1. So far, Verstappen said he had only driven next year’s car in the simulator. “I hope that racing will be better, that overtaking will be easier and that the teams will come closer together.”
Source: Nachrichten
