Max Verstappen feels that the pressure of winning is gone after the first championship and he is ready to begin again.
Max Verstappen won his first title in 2021 and there is no doubt that he is proud of it. Following his win, he decided to take number 1 on his car. Going forward, he is excited about the new season but feels that the pressure to win is gone.
However, it does not mean that he is less motivated. He feels more motivated because he wants to do it again. In an interview with the De Telegraaf, the Dutchman said, “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 make a serious shot at the title.”
“In the first year that it was possible, it worked immediately.”
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Max Verstappen wants to win and try to dominate
Talking about his winter break, Verstappen revealed that he gained less weight and therefore he feels confident and motivated. He also said that he participated in a lot of sim races.
He said that he has same ethic in sim racing as he has in formula 1. “When I participate, I want to win and try to dominate. It is difficult there too. For example, we drove the 24 Hours of Le Mans with our Team Redline, so I am also fully involved in the set-up of the car,” he said.
The Dutchman explained that the victory in Abu Dhabi was a madhouse although he didn’t go to many parties. He didn’t think about the sport for two and a half week. He said, “I also wanted to visit my family, because I hadn’t seen them for a long time.”
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Verstappen understands Lewis Hamilton’s disappointment
Talking about the Abu Dhabi controversy, he said that he deserved the title. The 24-year-old believes that the championship is won over a whole season not just one race. Verstappen said that people who might watch only the last race would think that he was lucky.
“But normally the championship would have been decided in my favor long ago. I lost a lot of points twice, after being knocked out by another car and I had that blowout in Baku. Because of all that bad luck it came down to the last race,” he said.
Furthermore, he said that given how things turned out to be in the last race, he understands Hamilton’s disappointment. Though, he did not text him during the winter break.
“No, there was no reason to. We haven’t seen each other yet. That’s fine, we’re both drivers. We are looking forward and we are going back to it,” Verstappen said.
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