‘One more lap and I couldn’t have finished the race!’ Max Verstappen reveals how close he was to losing the world title in final few corners of Abu Dhabi GP

‘One more lap and I couldn’t have finished the race!’ Max Verstappen reveals how close he was to losing the world title in final few corners of Abu Dhabi GP

Max Verstappen

2021 World Champion Max Verstappen had recently revealed that he will be using the number ‘1’ for the 2022 season after winning the season in a dramatic finale. The number ‘1’ is reserved only for the defending world champion. But the Dutchman recently revealed that his chances of donning the exclusive number would have slim to none.

Max Verstappen revealed he was suffering from a painful leg cramp during the dying moments of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In an interview, he revealed he was fighting the pain and had given hopes of fighting back. Had he not conquered the pain, we would have not witnessed the Dutchman win his maiden title

The 24-year-old Red Bull racer was trailing Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton at the end of the safety car session. Race director Michael Masi allowed the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves giving Max a chance on his fresher soft tyres. The Red Bull driver made a lunge in the penultimate laps gaining the lead in the process.

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Max Verstappen: “One more lap and I couldn’t have finished the race like that”

Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on 2021 Abu Dhabi GP podium

Max recalled the dramatic season finale and said, “I tried to be really on it with the restart. It was all working well until I crossed the line and started to feel a cramp in my leg. It’s one of the most painful things that can happen because you’re going full throttle for a long time. You feel the muscle clenching and becoming like a tennis ball. So I was just keeping it full throttle and I could feel my leg hurting more and more. Luckily, Turn Five arrived and I went for the [overtaking] move. I had like three seconds off throttle.”

Hence, Max Verstappen revealed that he was inches away from squandering the world title. One more lap, and it could have been Lewis Hamilton standing on the top of the podium, claiming his record 8th world championship title.

“It was completely done. One more lap and I couldn’t have finished the race like that. The stress levels were so high in the final lap that probably your body reacts to that. But you cannot give up” the Dutchman continued.“I knew I had more grip so I was like ‘I’ll surprise them on that corner’. Even my dad didn’t expect me to do it there. These kinds of things make the difference. But two long straights were coming up.”

When asked about how it felt to claim the chequered flag and the title at the end of the race, Max said, “I couldn’t believe it, especially after the whole race when everything looked like it was not happening,” he said. “Suddenly your emotions swing 100 per cent the other way. So crazy. It’s what we had worked for my whole life. It was always my dream. Once you cross the line, you realise you finally have it. I jumped out of the car and all the mechanics and my dad was running towards me.”

Max will be defending his title with his team Red Bull, who will attempt to repeat the feat and win the Constructors Championship along the way. Red Bull will be launching their car on the 9th of February from the Red Bull Technology Campus, Milton Keynes.

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