There was no time for Red Bull Racing Honda’s Max Verstappen to rest on his laurels, as the newly-minted Formula One world champion was back out on track just two days after his title celebrations, sporting an appropriately shiny pair of new gold boots into the bargain. Here is all you need to know:
– Speaking during a break in testing, on how it feels to be F1 champion, he said: “It’s just an incredible feeling right now. I’m still a bit destroyed from last night; everything from the whole season is coming out. Insane, intense, crazy… the season in general, but also yesterday. At the moment, I’m just incredibly happy.”
– He continued: “To become world champion was of course my final goal in Formula One. I’m very happy that it happened and, as I said yesterday, everything else that happens now is just a bonus.”
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – DECEMBER 14: Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during Formula 1 testing at Yas Marina Circuit on December 14, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202112140028 // Usage for editorial use only //
– On his final lap agony: “My last lap when I was fighting Lewis, I had a cramp already starting the lap and that just lasted the whole [time]. Every time I was going full throttle it was terrible. So I was fighting him, then defending and I just felt my muscles coming together and it almost became like a tennis ball. It was terrible. It was like the worst experience you can have in terms of your calf muscle just dying on you.”
– How did it feel to experience that dramatic turnaround? “I was crying on the end lap, there’s no hiding about it. It was just insane, the whole lap. I couldn’t believe it. Just the stress of the whole season, the whole battle, and then it looked like it was not going your way. Suddenly it turns around in a crazy fashion and it does come your way; it couldn’t have been more dramatic.”
– How much of a role did teammate Sergio Pérez have to play over the season? “Checo has done an amazing job for the team. He’s really been a team player, but also just a great person, and it really showed in the final race. What he did for me to be back in that fight was just insane. I’m really thankful that we already had this year together. It’s always very interesting how you’re going to behave as teammates, but I’m very thankful that I get to spend at least two years wiith him as a teammate.”
– Any season highlights? “Winning Monaco was very special. The two Austria races… that was really nice, to win there again at our home track. Winning in Zandvoort was very special for me, with all the Dutch fans there.”
– Verstappen was speaking during post-season testing in Abu Dhabi, where the teams spent some time putting the 2022 18-inch Pirelli rims through their paces. The Dutchman was out on track on Tuesday, with Pérez behind the wheel on Wednesday. Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly have also been putting in the laps for Scuderia AlphaTauri
– Alongside the Pirelli test, it was also the traditional Young Driver Test event, with some of the hottest up-and-coming names in motorsport getting a taste of the F1 machines. For AlphaTauri, that meant young New Zealander Liam Lawson getting some track time after his spectacular rookie season in the DTM, while young Latvian F2 driver Juri Vips got a second chance to put the Red Bull Racing car through its pace.