Max Verstappen speaks up on the differing emotions in his 2022 F1 title win from 2021, and his driving style improvements.
With four Grands Prix still left to run, Red Bull’s Verstappen has in a nutshell dominated the F1 season after a sluggish enough start for him and Red Bull. Contrast to 2021 which was a different ball game, with a fight that went down to quite literally the last lap between him and defending champion, Lewis Hamilton.
Naturally, Verstappen felt different emotions then to now where he more or less dominated the field. He doesn’t to compare it though because both the feelings are equal as it resulted in a title win. But he admitted that he was glad that 2022 wasn’t same as 2021 because it would have been hard to have back-to-back seasons in such pressure.
Here’s what Max Verstappen said –
Comparison 2021 to 2022 –
Verstappen: “Yeah, totally. I mean, very different emotions, of course. But also, that’s because of the whole season anyway being very different. And you’re already starting with completely different cars, completely different way of racing. And then, of course, also, the amount of races we’ve won. But also they all came in quite a different way. Like, last year it was all really qualifying dependent, and that’s how you would normally win a race.
“Now, even with some engine penalties, it was coming back to the front, it’s really been an enjoyable year. And of course, a very special year, which will be very hard, I think, in the future to match from myself, I think as well. That’s why I think we really have to appreciate it and really enjoy it. We were enjoying it already, probably now we can just enjoy it a little bit more.”
More satisfying than first championship –
Verstappen: “Like I said before, it’s just different, because of the whole season. I mean, already last year was very special for me winning a title. But this year has been… anyway, already because of the cars being very different. But also the way we were working as a team with… Okay, we had a tough start, but I think after that we really worked well as a team. We barely made any mistakes. So,. yeah, the two years you cannot compare.”
Driving style in 2022 compared to 2021 –
Verstappen: “I find that difficult. I think you always look back at a year, what can I do better? And I think you always try to be a more complete driver. But you’re not a robot, you make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. But it’s all about trying to minimise that and just minimise risk as well in some situations. And yeah, sometimes that works a bit better than other times. But overall, I think throughout the whole season it’s been working very well.”
Different scenarios in title win –
Verstappen: “I think the first one is always the most emotional, but I think this one is definitely the better one, just in terms of performance.”
Differing emotions in win –
Verstappen: “Yeah, very different emotions. You know, last year, all the way till the last race is probably the worst kind of feeling, going into that last race. But also because at the time, I don’t think we were the quickest anymore, so that also doesn’t help. And this year, I think, yeah, it’s just been very, very different in emotions from the start, all the way through to the year. But you know, both are beautiful and both are, at the end of the day, nice to experience because it’s nice also really have always the pressure on and having to perform to your limit every single lap of the race. But not for too many years in a row. So, I was very happy with the year we had this time around.”
What point he thought he could more titles –
Verstappen: “Well, it’s just going to depend on the coming years, right? We have a really good group of people. And I think they also work really well together. So it’s all about just, keeping them together. And so if we keep them together, I think they can achieve a lot. And then of course, if I have a competitive car, I’m confident that we can keep this going. But it also depends on what the competition is going to come up with. But yeah, I really believe in this group. And I really hope that in the coming years, we can enjoy a lot more wins, and potentially, of course, championships.”
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