After a difficult 2021 season competing with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen is looking forward to a more peaceful 2022 season.
After a year spent embroiled in a furious struggle with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen is confident that the 2022 season will not be as fraught with drama and hatred as the 2021 season.
The relationship between Verstappen and Hamilton became increasingly strained as the year progressed, surpassed only by that of Red Bull and Mercedes as tensions grew.
Verstappen eventually won the Drivers’ Championship, with Mercedes taking the Constructors’ title. The season was capped off by a very contentious Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Dutch driver is ready to race again in 2022 after relaxing and recharging over the winter break, but he admits he doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of 2021.
“You can’t have that drama every single year, for sure,” he told UK newspaper The Guardian.
“It’s not good for me, it’s not healthy for anyone in the team – both teams.”
However, now that he has fulfilled his career ambition of winning a World Championship, Verstappen revealed that his life has changed very little as a result.
“Not for me at least,” he said. “Once I get home I prefer to do the things I was doing before becoming champion.”
Verstappen explains how championship pressure has vanished
Verstappen thinks he’ll be better prepared to deal with the pressures of a championship fight the next time around now that he has a World Championship win under his belt as he prepares for the new season.
“That little pressure in the back of your mind, of having to win a World Championship or trying to win it, has gone,” he said.
“It’s already happened. I’ve done it. So when it’s tough or you’re having bad luck you probably will deal with it easier than normal.”
While the FIA is investigating the circumstances of the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen has already dismissed any fears about what the report would find when it is released on March 18th.
Despite being 13 years younger than his primary competitor and entering a new season as the World Champion at the start of a revolutionary ruleset in 2022, Verstappen said that he is not heading into the next few years with the goal of matching Hamilton’s accomplishments.
“If I never get to a number seven or number eight [title], it’s fine,” he commented.
“You need a lot of luck to be in such a dominant position for such a long time. I just want to enjoy it and I know that, when I get to the track, I still want to win.”
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