Max Verstappen proud despite narrowly missing out on F1 title
What's the story
Max Verstappen has expressed his pride in Red Bull Racing's performance this season. The Dutch driver finished second in the championship standings, just two points behind McLaren's Lando Norris. Despite not clinching the title, Verstappen was pleased with how he and Red Bull Racing made a remarkable comeback after being as far as 104 points off the lead earlier in the season.
Comeback story
Verstappen's impressive comeback
Verstappen and Red Bull made a stunning comeback in the second half of the season, winning five out of eight races between Italy and Qatar. Their performance, combined with some mistakes from rivals McLaren, saw Verstappen enter the Abu Dhabi finale just 12 points behind Norris. Despite taking pole position and winning the race in dominant fashion, he fell two points short of overtaking Norris who secured a podium finish to clinch the title.
Season reflection
Verstappen reflects on the season
After the race, Verstappen said he was prepared for such outcomes as they needed a bit of luck to win. He added, "From our side, at least we optimized the weekend perfectly - we put it on pole, we won the race in I think dominant fashion." Despite losing the championship by two points, he said it wasn't too bad considering their position earlier in Zandvoort where they were over 100 points behind.
Team pride
Verstappen expresses pride in team's performance
Verstappen expressed his pride in the whole team for not giving up even when they were far behind. He said, "I don't think that's how this team works. We always try to look for improvements and understand our issues, and that's definitely what we did." Despite not winning the championship, he was satisfied with his eighth win of the season and looked forward to next year with a sense of optimism.
Verstappen
Verstappen claims his 71st F1 race win; 8th this season
Verstappen finished the season with 8 race wins and 15 podium finishes from 24 races. Overall in F1, the Dutchman owns 71 race wins after conquering Abu Dhabi. In terms of podiums, he has collected a tally of 127. Verstappen ended the season strongly. He claimed victory in last weekend's Qatar GP.