Verstappen: “We deserve it!”. Horner: “A supply of Red Bull to Latifi”

At the end of an absurd and incredible Abu Dhabi GP, with a wrong start, a maneuver with Hamilton subject to discussion a few corners later, a chase up to the virtual and safety car that upset the final, Max Verstappen on the last lap wins the Yas Marina race and wins his first F1 world championship. A scream in the helmet after putting his hands in front of the visor, almost unbelievable, and then, in the pits, the first words as a champion: “It’s incredible, guys, a crazy emotion: I tried it all the race, I had the opportunity on the last lap and it went well – says Max, first Dutch world champion – I also have a cramp, it was madness, a crazy thing: I hardly have words. In turns 2 and 3 I had some relief because I moved my foot, then on the straight an excruciating pain, but I had to push hard “.

the merit of the team

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The hug in the pits with the members of the team seals his business, even if the constructors’ title goes to Mercedes not to Red Bull: “My team deserves it, it was great to work with them, I’m fine here I would like to stay with Red Bull for another 15 years, his whole life – continues Max – finally a bit of luck for me too. I want to thank Perez who has done a great team work, truly incredible “. The reference is to the duel that his teammate engaged with Hamilton around lap 20, slowing him down, and allowing Max to catch up. However, I will not recover decisively for the final outcome, because in the second part of the race it was the Virtual and Safety Car that shuffled the cards.

whole life ahead

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The champagne soaks him and Max struggles to find the words: “My goal from an early age was to be here, then when you experience a similar emotion in the first person it is incredible – says Verstappen -: now all the past years come back to your mind , the trips made, the sacrifices faced and also all the people who have supported me in my journey from karts up to now. This title does not change my way of being, I have conquered everything I could in F1, so anything will come from now on it will all be a bonus. Then winning here, in this crazy way, with my father, my girlfriend, my manager here and so many friends was very special. “

onore a lewis

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A thought also to his rival, Lewis Hamilton, whose fierce opposition magnifies the scope of Max Verstappen’s world championship success, with that decisive overtaking on the last lap, at turn 5, after the restart from the final safety car that led them to play the world championship, all season, in a single, throbbing, last lap. “Lewis is a fantastic driver, he was an extraordinary opponent – says Max – today he could have gone one way or the other, sport is made up of moments like this, even hard and difficult, I guess, but we are ready to repeat ourselves. ‘next year. We pushed ourselves to the maximum this year, we had a season at the top, of very high quality. Overtaking? I made my trajectory, Lewis took advantage of the escape route, nothing happened and at that point I didn’t I thought about it more, I was concentrated on doing my race. The Safety Car? When it entered we put the soft wheels to try everything, in my opinion the entrance was obvious and it was right given the situation, then sometimes it can to go in your favor sometimes against but the Safety in that circumstance was right “.

dad jos

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Dad Jos, Max’s mentor, is proud of his son’s world championship success: “It was an exciting race, it seemed over, then the Safety Car arrived at the end and we know that if there is an opportunity, Max knows how to seize it. I am his father, but I believe that by looking at the whole season he deserved the victory. ” Last measure on that Hamilton chicane cut on the first lap, after a hard overtaking by Verstappen, which was not even investigated by the race direction. “When Max goes out of line he takes a 5” penalty, I think Lewis should have at least returned the position … “The bubbles of triumph, however, now extinguish the controversy as well.

ironia horner

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was also ironic and joyful. Speaking of the providential Safety Car that turned the fortunes of the Abu Dhabi GP, he said: “We will give Latifi a lifetime supply of Red Bull. Mercedes was faster, we desperately needed that safety ”.