Verstappen sees difference from 2021: 'That was not so important this year'

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10 October 2022 at 09:52
Last update 10 October 2022 at 10:59
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  • GPblog.com

Max Verstappen has managed to prolong his title in Formula 1. A handsome achievement, although Verstappen admitted at the press conference after the Japanese Grand Prix that he did nothing else as reigning world champion.

Verstappen prolongs his title

Going into 2022 as the reigning world champion, Verstappen had even more eyes on him. With start number #1 on the car, it was therefore extra painful that Verstappen crashed out twice in the first races, but then followed a strong run that was crowned with a prolongation of his world title in Japan.

''Yeah, I mean, of course, probably people expect a little bit more of you. But at the end for me, that doesn't really change. It's just you always look at yourself and say, what can you do better, right? I don't think necessarily I became a faster driver, because I don't think at this stage of your career that you suddenly find a tenth or two-tenths in your driving. It’s all about learning from previous seasons and just trying to apply that. And probably that just sometimes, some situations can make you a little bit faster because you know, a little bit better what to do with whatever you know,'' said Verstappen after the Japanese Grand Prix.

F1 cars of 2022

The experience with his team helped Verstappen in various situations this year and it is for this reason that the bond is so strong. Not for nothing did the two parties sign a long-term contract that locks the Dutchman with the Austrian racing stable until 2028.

Besides the experience, it is also the new 2022 cars that Verstappen likes. ''I think these new cars, it's quite interesting, because before you really focus a lot on qualifying, because you knew that it was very hard to pass a car. Now even if your qualifying is not amazing, if you have a good race car, you can still fight and you can still actually pass people. So that's the beautiful side of the new cars. And that's why I think, let's say we had that problem last year where you have a problem in qualifying where you’re not as competitive. I think we wouldn't have won the amount of races as we did this year because, yeah, this year, pole was nice, but it doesn't always mean that you're going to win the race,'' concluded Verstappen.