After the 2021 season, Max Verstappen has been on a whole other level. After winning his maiden championship in the final race, he found his confidence and cemented his place in 2022 with an impressive season and only bettered himself in 2023. Despite winning races in dominant fashion, he’s still been at the center of some fair and some unnecessary controversies due to the 2021 championship.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 race saw Max Verstappen execute a stunning last-lap overtake on Lewis Hamilton to secure the championship. The thrilling climax, marred by controversy and FIA mistakes, left fans and experts divided.
That extraordinary final lap of the 2021 title race in full 😮#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kknTMDfpAF
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021
However, fans never forget what happened that night, and #F1xed, #RedBullCheats, #HumanErrorChampion are common hashtags that trend on Twitter even to this day. Some fans even made a petition to overturn his maiden title.
Max Verstappen replies back on 2021 Championship win
According to RBR, Max Verstappen opened up about the criticisms he and his team faced due to the famous 2021 Championship win. He said, “You can keep shouting and screaming that it’s not all that special what we all do, or that tone has a bit. Maybe they don’t always say that, but they do. While you just have to deal with yourself. That’s the only thing you have influence on. I don’t need things like this.”
Handling such pressure and criticism is never easy and Verstappen has his own of dealing with this. Recently, he revealed his own way of dealing with it and said, “I go home, I switch off from Formula One, and I am happy with my career. And when I come back to the race weekends I do my thing, and that is it.”
Verstappen’s remarkable performance has made many believe that Formula 1 is more predictable and less exciting arguing that the sport needs more competition and unpredictability to go has been appealing to fans.
The 25-year-old remains unfazed by the criticism, saying he will focus on his performance and the opinions of those closest to him. Red Bull driver claims that he has been dedicated to doing everything it takes to achieve since as a child, he had the goal of becoming a Formula 1 driver.
Verstappen believes people ‘can’t appreciate dominance’
Max stated that critics fail to appreciate the level of dominance and the execution of his job. Adding that dominance is not new in Formula 1, he also said that he cannot do much with those kinds of comments. Verstappen said he is enjoying what he is doing and hopes to continue his success.
Talking about this he said, “They cannot appreciate dominance or just people executing their jobs.”🗣️ | 🇮🇹 Max on not caring about opinions about Red Bull achievements in 2021
“You can keep shouting and screaming that it’s not all that special what we all do, or that tone has a bit. Maybe they don’t always say that, but they do”
“While you just have to deal with yourself.… pic.twitter.com/6O9Gn7jef6
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) September 3, 2023
However, Verstappen acknowledged how difficult it is to keep up his dominant form. He is aware that more drivers and teams would have amassed such streaks if it were simple. Instead of looking for approval, he wants to demonstrate his ability to produce such amazing outcomes.
