“This year, it’s just been very, very different”: Max Verstappen comments on all ways his Championship battle in 2021 differ from his 2022 F1 season
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Every year, the Formula One Championship battle brings with itself a host of drama, competition, and changing dynamics between the rival drivers. Max Verstappen recently won his second World Championship title in a row, with a great performance at the tumultuous Japanese GP, under challenging weather conditions. But Max was not the initial favorite of many for winning the title this year because of Red Bull‘s poor start to the season. Despite that, the Dutchman managed to bag the trophy win with a huge gap of over 100 points from his nearest competitor.
Although the beginning of the year saw both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez struggled in their Red Bull RB-18s because of several reliability issues, this happens to be a much more relaxed season for Max than last year. In 2021, the Championship was not decided till the very last lap of the last Grand Prix on the F1 calendar–the Abu Dhabi GP. And even then, there were several controversies related to FIA’s ruling on the Yas Marina race as Race Director Michael Masi resigned from his authoritative position later on.
2021 saw an epic battle between Max targeting his first-ever F1 season victory, and Lewis Hamilton, eyeing a record-setting eighth Championship win. The tension between the two could almost be cut with a knife and the competition reached an all-time high. But according to the 25-year-old, this year’s races were much more relaxed as he had less things to worry about, with such a massive point-advantage over his rivals.
“Completely different”: Max Verstappen outlines how his 2021 Championship battle cannot be compared with his 2022 season
When Max Verstappen sat down for a talk with F1.com, a question came up about how the Dutchman would go to state the differences between his Championship win last year as compared to this year. Speaking on this, the Red Bull driver said, “You’re already starting with completely different cars, a completely different way of racing.”
He also said, “But also because then I don’t think we were the fastest anymore, so that doesn’t help either. And this year, I think, it’s just been very, very different in terms of emotions from the start, all year long.”
This year, Max Verstappen has been at his supreme form as he has already gathered 13 Grand Prix victories in the 18 races that have taken place till now. The Red Bull driver took the reigns and turned the table once his team could fix the problems he faced with his car early on, and from that time, he was virtually unbeatable. Now, it remains to be seen how the upcoming season of F1 Championship pans out for the #1 driver, and if he manages to get a hat-trick with a third season win in a row.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)