Max Verstappen sees future F1 success as bonus for him after world title as he talks of staying on with Red Bull as Christian Horner chips in.
Much like many of the F1 champions in the past, Verstappen too notes that winning one title does helps in the ease of mind and also accomplishment. It is a similar stance to Nico Rosberg, who chose to retire after his first world championship.
But he was on a different stage of the career to Verstappen, where the latter is still pretty young. In a way, Lewis Hamilton does puts down statistics as well but his motivation to keep winning is there, which seems similar for the Dutchman.
Even though he calls it as a bonus – which on technical terms it is – Verstappen has the desire to continue racing in F1 for as well. “[Having won the title] my life will not change now,” he said. “I am, of course, very happy that I won the championship, that final achievement that I wanted in Formula 1 so everything else that comes now is a bonus.
“Of course I will continue driving but of course, in terms of achievements, I have achieved everything in Formula 1 now so everything that comes next is just a bonus [as I said],” summed up Verstappen, who sees a long-term future with Red Bull.
He did joke about 10 to 15 years, but nothing is certain for that long which Horner knows as well. “It does feel like that, because I think you heard on my radio as well, on the in lap, asking if I could stay for another 10/15 years,” said Verstappen.
“So I am very happy where I am. And also just I can be myself, and that I think is also really important. And it’s not only about just purely F1: we can have fun, we can have a good laugh. I think that’s also important.
“Because it’s not only about performance, also you need to enjoy what you’re doing,” summed up Verstappen as Horner joked about signing him immediately, after which he added seriously: “Look it’s, you know relationships I think are not about contracts. You know, he came into the team almost as a boy and he has grown into a young man, and he has grown with the team.
“I think that the relationship that we share, the trust that we share with each other is worth more than any piece of paper. I look forward to racing with Max Verstappen for many years to come and I believe the best years are very much still to come.”
Here’s Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton and if he continues on
Here’s how the FIA Gala went
Here’s Honda on win for Max Verstappen
