Max Verstappen refused to blame his road-rage with George Russell at this season’s Spanish Grand Prix for costing him a fifth consecutive world championship.
Verstappen was sanctioned by the stewards for deliberately driving into Mercedes’ Russell in Barcelona in June. He was demoted from fifth to 10th, costing him nine points.
Verstappen won the season-finale in Abu Dhabi — ending the year with more victories (eight) than any other driver — and finished just two points behind Lando Norris as the British driver secured his maiden world crown.
But asked if he regretted his driving in Spain — which he subsequently accepted blame for — Verstappen snapped back: “You forget about all the other stuff that happened in my season.
“The only thing that you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come. And you are giving me a stupid grin now.
“It is part of racing. You live and learn. A championship is won over 24 rounds and I have also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half of the season so you can also question that, too.”
Verstappen, 28, won emphatically from pole position, and resisted backing up the pack in the hope that Norris would be relegated into Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc‘s clutches, and below the third place he needed to land the title.
Lewis Hamilton attempted the tactic back in 2016, although his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg prevailed as champion.
Verstappen continued: “I had a lot of scenarios in my head. But I knew once Oscar [Piastri] was on the hard tyres, that would make backing up quite difficult. The others couldn’t follow that well either.
“Charles drove his heart out today to try and get on that podium so that was impressive to see, but then he went on to a two-stop strategy and that made it even more complicated, and the new layout makes it harder than 2016, too.
“I kept looking up at the screen and hoping something would pop up. Every straight, I kept looking to see if something was happening, but it didn’t and that is racing, and I am not too fussed about it. I have no regrets about my season.”
