“Nothing can really affect you”: Max Verstappen on how he blocks out the negativity aimed towards him

Max Verstappen recently admitted that he does not let himself get affected by all the negativity that is aimed towards him. 

Verstappen spent the 2021 season in the midst of an intense Championship fight with Lewis Hamilton. After a grueling battle with the Brit, he stood tall and became the first Dutch World Champion in F1 history.

Nicholas Latifi’s unfortunate crash in Abu Dhabi paved the way for Verstappen’s title glory. As a result, the Canadian driver was victim of online abuse and death threats, which all F1 teams and drivers have condemned.

When talking about the incident, Verstappen stated that he does his best to not be affected by comments made about him. He added that he reacts indifferently to both positive and negative messages aimed towards him or his family.

“That’s why I always try to stay very neutral.” the Red Bull driver said.

“So when people are very positive, of course it’s nice to hear. But I don’t really take a lot out of it. Also when people are negative, that’s why when you’re always very level then nothing can really disturb you.”

“I think that, especially throughout this year, that was very important. Because you have the two sides in general. So if you stay very neutral, then nothing can really affect you.”

Also read: Former World Champion Nico Rosberg heaps praise on Max Verstappen after a stellar 2021 Campaign

Max Verstappen is not chasing Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher’s record

Verstappen admitted that he does not want a ‘2021 like’ season every single year in F1. He made it clear that his goal in life was to win the Championship, and that he did.

“I don’t need to improve on this!” the 24 year old said. For me, it doesn’t need to be like this every single year. I don’t think you can last a long time in Formula 1 like that.”

“I’m happy how it played out. It was an amazing season, a lot of unpredictable things happened. The two teams fighting against each other. That is always more exciting than when it’s one team dominating and it’s just the two teammates basically fighting.”

Verstappen went on to say that he has no desire to go after 7-World Championships like Schumacher or Hamilton.

“You need a bit of luck to be able to fight for seven or eight, you need a very dominant team to be able to do that. So you don’t always have that luck, or you are not in that era, and sometimes it just doesn’t happen.” the Dutchman said.

“For me, I always wanted to win one and then we’ll see where we go from there.”

“Everything that comes now is a bonus but that doesn’t mean that, if I lose a race, I won’t be upset. But maybe a few minutes after, I’ll be OK.” he concluded.

Also read: Red Bull chief feels Max Verstappen became a better driver because of his father Jos’ lack of success in F1