The Dutchman secured his third title in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint.
“Max Verstappen jokingly attributes the complexities of his latest championship celebration to the influence of Formula 1.”
The Dutchman secured his third consecutive championship at the Qatar Grand Prix following a dominant season that has seen him break record after record – including the most race victories in a row.
But due to a quirk caused by the Sprint format, Verstappen confirmed his title on the Saturday at the Lusail International Circuit, meaning the initial euphoria had to be curbed with Sunday’s race still to be run.
Confusion over the points allocation following a delayed and subsequently curtailed Japanese Grand Prix last season meant Verstappen was denied an instantaneous outburst of emotion, whilst his first title triumph was marred by the controversy revolving around his last lap shootout with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ appeal over the processes used by then race-director Michael Masi.
Asked by Channel 4 about another abnormal title celebration, Verstappen joked: “I blame F1 for that, for introducing the sprint weekends.
“These kinds of things aren’t in your control, I always try to score as many points as possible and that made it possible to win on a Saturday. It’s ok.”
Enjoyment of working with people
With his third consecutive triumph, Verstappen has joined names such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton in completing the feat.
“I never thought these kinds of things were possible,” insisted Verstappen.
“I remember watching F1 and you want to be on that podium and try to win races, so to be here with three titles is quite crazy to think about.
“You never think these kinds of things are possible, to put your name in between those names, but I am incredibly proud.
“On the radio on the in lap, you talk a lot about performance and thank a lot of people for their performance and what they contribute to the car and to the success of the team.
“But don’t really talk about just the enjoyment of working with people. Every weekend, you get to the track and there are so many brilliant minds, but also just nice people to work with so it’s just fun as well.”
