‘Worst kind of feeling’ - How Verstappen’s two F1 title triumphs compare
The Red Bull driver clinched his second world title with a supreme drive in Sunday’s wet Japanese Grand Prix to complete one of F1’s most dominant championship wins.
Prior to Verstappen, only Michael Schumacher (2001 and 2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2011) had wrapped up the world title with four races to spare.
It marked a huge contrast to the way in which the Dutchman’s first title was sealed.
Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to last year’s drivers’ crown thanks to a last-lap overtake at the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a fierce, season-long battle.
“Yeah, very different emotions,” said Verstappen when asked if the initial feeling of winning the title felt different to his first.
“Last year, all the way to the last race was probably the worst kind of feeling, going into that last race. At the time I didn’t think we were the quickest anymore so that also doesn’t help.
“And this year, it has just been very, very different in emotions, from the start, all the way through the year. Both are beautiful and both are nice to experience.
"It’s nice to have the pressure on and having to perform at your limit every single lap, but not for too many years in a row, so I was very with the year we had this time around.”
Asked which one was more rewarding, Verstappen said: “I think the first one is always the most emotional but this one is definitely the better one, just in terms of performance.”
Verstappen said F1’s new rules to boost overtaking have made the season more enjoyable, but admitted it will be very hard to replicate the same level of performance, after taking 12 wins from 18 races.
“Already starting with completely different cars and a completely different way of racing, and then of course the amount of races we’ve won - they’ve all come in a really different way,” he explained.
“Last year it was all qualifying dependent - that’s normally how you would win a race. Now, even with some engine penalties coming back to the front.
“It’s been a very enjoyable year and a very special year, which will be very hard, I think, in the future to match from myself.
“That’s why I think we really have to appreciate it and really enjoy it. We were enjoying it already but now we can probably enjoy it a bit more.”
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