General
Alpine advisor calls Verstappen title 'good for Formula 1'
- GPblog.com
Alain Prost has enjoyed the past Formula 1 season, despite a disappointing year for his Alpine. The advisor of the French racing team saw Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battle for the world title right up to the last round of the year, with the Dutchman eventually grabbing his first world title.
Hamilton deserved it too
According to Prost both Verstappen and Hamilton deserved to win the World Championship in 2021. The four-time World Champion believes the level was so close that it was impossible to choose between the two top drivers. Prost said that the penny eventually dropped in favour of Verstappen in this scenario. Speaking to Motorsport.com Prost called it 'good for Formula 1'.
Still, he said that it is a pity that the season ended with controversy. After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Mercedes made two protests, but the stewards gave them no answer after a few hours. It took another five days before the German team accepted defeat. Prost understood why Mercedes were so angry after the race. He also found the situation with the safety car in the final phase at the Yas Marina Circuit not correct and even a bit strange.
Verstappen has grown
In recent years, Verstappen has often been criticised for not being mature enough to compete for the world title. The 24-year-old Dutchman has now put an end to that criticism once and for all. Prost also saw that Verstappen made hardly any mistakes, although he did pick out the qualifying in the penultimate Grand Prix of the season (Jeddah). However, the 66-year-old former driver feels that this does not detract from the fact that the Red Bull Racing driver has shown he has matured this year.