Max Verstappen ‘doesn’t care’ if Mercedes take shine off world title

Verstappen’s world title was won in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Verstappen won his maiden F1 title in 2021 (Getty Images)

Max Verstappen says he ‘doesn’t care’ if Mercedes have taken the shine off of his maiden Formula 1 title.

Verstappen overtook Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the last race of the 2021 season to take the championship but it was in controversial circumstances. Former race director Michael Masi allowed some cars to unlap themselves and others not which gave the Dutchman the opportunity to overtake Hamilton.

But he said he isn’t letting the situation take anything away from his victory.

“If they [people] know me well, they know I don’t care,” he told De Telegraaf. “At the end of the day, it was a crazy and epic Formula 1 season.

“The losing team will try to take the shine off it a bit. But on the winning side, it still feels good, I can assure you.”

Verstappen does think back to the build-up to the race which was filled with tension due to how close the title race was.

He added: “That was such a hectic week that I don’t enjoy everything when I think back. It also brings back the tense feeling of that time.

“I enjoy the moments after more. No, I don’t have nightmares about it. I just prefer to think back to the moments when it was all over.”

The Red Bull driver said some people may think he’s “lucky” but that he worked hard for the title. “A championship is won over a whole season, not by one decision in the last race. I also think I deserved the title, absolutely,” he said.

“There might be people who only watched the last Grand Prix. They might think I was lucky. But normally the championship would have been decided in my favour.

“I lost a lot of points twice after being knocked out by another car and I had that blow-out in Baku. With all that bad luck, it came down to the last race.”

Verstappen will attempt to defend his title in the 2022 season which begins in Bahrain on 20 March.