Max Verstappen says he is proud of Red Bull’s performance at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where they dominated the race but missed out on the drivers’ championship to Lando Norris.
The defending champions needed to win races and finish on the podium to retain their title, so it was hoped that Norris’ sponsorship would create a chance for others to get ahead of McLaren. However, while the other two title contenders started on medium tyres, Oscar Piastri started on hard tyres, and although he overtook Norris at the start, Verstappen said it was too difficult to try that approach.
“Honestly, we made the most of everything we could,” Verstappen said. “We took pole position and won the race. We had such strong pace that there was little else we could do.
“What was a bit complicated was that Oscar had a different strategy. You don’t know when he’s going to pit or how much pace he has to catch up. It also complicates the effort a little bit to keep the pack together and so on. All in all, I’m very proud of the weekend we had again. We gave it our all and the car was actually fun to drive.”
“I had a lot of scenarios in my head[before the race]but once you find out what tires Oscar has on the car, it’s going to be quite difficult. I think I was probably a little too fast in front. The other guys didn’t follow that well. But I had a lot of scenarios in my head before the race.”
“Charles (Leclerc) tried his best to get on that podium today, so it was impressive to see that too. They went for two stops, which I think made it even more complicated, because if you stay at one stop it’s hard to go all the way back. With the new layout around here, it’s even harder to do that compared to, say, 2016.”
Verstappen admitted he was paying attention to what was happening behind him as he extended his lead, winning his third race in a row but falling two points short of the championship.
“I just kept looking at the screen to see if something would pop up,” he said. “The race itself went really well. I was just enjoying sitting in the car and driving. I keep seeing if something happens every straight, but at the same time it’s part of the race so I didn’t make too much of a fuss.”
The Dutchman was full of praise for Norris and McLaren after the final race of the season, four years after his first championship in Abu Dhabi.
“I think winning your first title is something everyone dreams of when they start this sport,” he said. “I’ve been working towards this since I was little. It’s been my dream, so winning the title for the first time is very emotional. I hope it’s the same for Lando as well.”
“I saw a lot of his family coming, so it’s important to have a lot of fun tonight (and) with his team. Again, I think this is another story that shows that even if you have a tough year, if you keep working hard, if you keep adding good people to your team, you can overcome all of that and have great success again. They had a great season together, so it’s important to enjoy it.”
