“People say time is ticking, but I’m very relaxed”- Max Verstappen on ultimate F1 glory

“People say time is ticking, but I’m very relaxed”- Max Verstappen on missing the chance of becoming the youngest drivers’ champion.

Max Verstappen has managed to touch heights in Formula 1 just at the mere age of 23, and this year, he had a chance to become the youngest Drivers’ World Champion by crashing Sebastian Vettel’s record.

But little could have been done in front of Mercedes’ dominance, and Lewis Hamilton registered his seventh title. Reflecting on not achieving this record, Verstappen feels his time will come.

“Of course I would like to fight for the championship, but we’ll have to find out,” he said, speaking to Motorsport.com. “I mean, I’m still very young. And of course, you know, people say time is ticking, but I’m very relaxed. And it’s life.

“Also, you know, sometimes you cannot force things. So I stay calm. I think we can make a big step, but I also expect others to step. So I hope that ours is a bit bigger than the others.”

Should win the first race of the season

While Max is calmed about his future, his father Jos Verstappen feels that Red Bull should aim to win the first race of 2021, which now is supposed to be in Bahrain.

“It is nice to win the final race of the season, but it is even better to win the first one [in 2021],” he said. “It is nice to win the final race of course for the feeling of people in the factory. This gives an extra boost to everyone.

“But as I said before, I think it is even more important that we can win the first race next year. That would indicate that we have a car to compete with. And that is what we have missed a bit.”

“I think the changes in the regulations that are there for 2021 are still quite significant. The rest of the car has to be adapted to the changes being made to the floor. It’s mainly about aerodynamics, so they have to get that right.

“And we hope that Honda will bring something extra as well. In that case, we will look a little stronger than we did.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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