Max in F1 Talks on Viaplay: 'You want to keep that winning feeling'
Published on 15 December 2022 by Niels Hendrix
In the two-part Viaplay program F1 Talks, Amber Brantsen looks back on the great Formula 1 season 2022, in which Max Verstappen won his second world title. In addition to Max, there are other special guests at the table: father Jos Verstappen, Heikki Kovalainen, Giedo van der Garde and Björn Wirdheim.
Max, what has changed for you after winning your first world title? “In general, not much,” the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver starts. “Only that need to win a championship was gone, because I felt I had achieved all the goals in Formula 1. As I said back then, anything that comes after is a bonus. That probably takes a bit of the pressure off, but don't confuse that with losing a bit of motivation. Once you're at the top and have that winning feeling, you want to keep that. I know that every time I'm on a race track I switch on and I want to win. I work really hard for that. When I get back home afterwards, it's a bit more relaxed because of what we've already achieved in Formula 1.”
In the interesting conversation in which a wide range of topics are discussed, the question arises what Max’s biggest disappointment of the year was. After a small sigh, Max replies: “Monaco, Silverstone… I would go for Singapore. That was just a terrible weekend, everything went wrong. From the set-up of the car on Friday, the issues with running the car, not enough fuel in qualifying and then everything went wrong in the race. Sometimes you just have those weekends. Singapore was a weekend to forget.”
What comes to mind when you think about this year’s Belgian Grand Prix? Max says: “That was just an amazing race weekend. I think I have never had such an amazing car and dominance in Formula 1 before. From the first moment we hit the track, everything was working well. We barely changed anything on the car. We knew we had to take a grid penalty, but even starting 14th on the grid I knew that if I got through the first lap without any damage, we were going to win the race. It is very rare that you really believe in that.”
After the gentlemen have been able to show their skills at Imola in a supercar and the ranking order has been discussed, the end of the second episode is concluded with a round of dilemmas. The choice that Max is presented with, leads to the necessary hilarity!
Both episodes of F1 Talks with Max Verstappen can now be viewed on Viaplay: https://viaplay.com/series/f1-talks-with-max-verstappen
