Sealing his third world championship with a P2 in the Qatar sprint, Max Verstappen joined the well-known group of drivers with three titles, including Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, and Niki Lauda.
His achievement lead to questions about the possible legacy that he’s going to leave in Formula 1. The World Champion shrugged it off.
“I’m not in Formula 1 to leave a legacy in a way, I’m here to win, I’m here to try to do the best I can and then try to enjoy the moment with the people who helped me achieve these things.
“But it’s something that I never never thought was possible, you know, to be on that list.
“When you see those names, you’re like wow, that’s incredible what these people achieved in their careers and now you are alongside them. It’s of course an amazing feeling.”
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By formally securing his third world championship title on Saturday at the Lusail International Circuit, Max Verstappen became the first driver to do so in a sprint race.
He not only became the fifth driver to win a hat-trick of championships in a row but also the 11th driver to win at least three world championship titles.
The 26-year-old was crowned the 2023 season World Champion after his teammate Sergio Perez, who might have been the only driver to briefly stop him, was involved in a crash with Ocon and Hülkenberg that caused him to DNF on lap 11.
When speaking about the race, he began by explaining the struggle he went through early on as the soft tyre runners of Russell, Sainz and Leclerc all jumped him at the start.
He would ultimately repass them all as the softs fell off a cliff, but he got stuck behind Russell for a lap too long and lost contact to Piastri.
“Yeah, I think Lando and myself, we got eaten up a bit in the start. And, yeah, we lost quite a few positions there because of the Soft runners coming through. And that made it, of course, a bit more difficult.
“Plus, I think in general, we’re always quite strong on tyre deg, but with two Safety Cars in the Sprint, it’s not ideal, let’s say, for us. So, that definitely worked against us.
“And also, I was about to pass George just before that Safety Car came out, so, yeah, I had one more lap behind him where I lost a lot of time, because in high speed, he had no front tyres left, or left front. So, it was a bit of a shame.
“But overall, I mean, it was all about just making sure that we would win it today. That would always be nice for tomorrow. And yeah, I think we had good pace but just a bit, let’s say, unlucky in the race with the Safety Cars.”
He continued his words by sharing his feelings about being crowned as the World Champion for a third time and talked about how grateful he was for the team’s efforts, as well as the fantastic people in the squad.
“Yeah, of course a fantastic feeling. It’s been an incredible year. A lot of great races and of course super-proud but also super-proud of the job of the team. It’s just been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people. To be a three-time World Champion is just incredible,” Verstappen said.
“But I also find the whole atmosphere and you know, how much I enjoy working with all these people, I find that probably more important, and it is very important to come to the track and know that you have nice people to work with.”
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The 26-year-old ranks this one as the best yet. It’s not as emotional as 2021, but he is proud of the consistency he has shown this year.
Such has been his relentlessness, Verstappen’s been only off the podium once this year so far. 13 wins from 16 events is also a staggering achievement, and he took the record for consecutive wins at Monza by making it 10 in a row.
“This one is the best one. I think the first one was the most emotional one, because that’s when your dreams are fulfilled in F1. But this one is definitely… It has been my best year.
“Yeah, well, so far, you know, consecutive wins and stuff like that, and the car itself has been probably in the best shape as well.
”So for me, this one is probably the one I’m most proud of in a way because of consistency.”
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
