In May this year Max Verstappen became the youngest winner of a Grand Prix when he triumphed at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain at the age of 18 years and 228 days
LONDON, United Kingdom, Dec 9 – After a season full of ups and downs for Max Verstappen, the youngster explained that he doesn’t take any of his critics too seriously.
Verstappen got promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull after four races into the season and went onto win the Spanish Grand Prix on his debut for the senior team. He also went onto finish on the podium six more times throughout the season.
However, despite showcasing his undeniable talent, many experts and drivers slammed his driving style, calling it too aggressive.
The Dutchman, though, shrugged of the opinions of his colleagues.
“I’m always focusing on myself and trying to do the best possible race and result. That’s how it goes, I don’t care about other opinions,” Verstappen said.
“[2016 was] pretty positive. I didn’t expect the season to go like this, that I would be at Red Bull and would have won a race and has such memorable races as well. I can’t complain.
“It’s very positive and some good moments that I learned from, so that’s a good start for next year when hopefully the car and engine will improve again.
“I think just physically [I can improve] because the cars will be harder on your body, I think that is the first thing to improve at the moment.
“Of course by getting older, for me at the moment, I will get stronger anyway. But it’s always important to improve that all the time.”
-Vettel regrets-
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen of the Netherlands leads Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel of Germany during the United States Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on October 23, 2016 in Austin, United States
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel expressed his disappointment of not beating Red Bull to second place on the Constructors’ Championship.
Adding to his disappointment, Vettel was also upset Ferrari weren’t able to compete with Mercedes as they failed to secure a single race win throughout the season.
Finishing 70-points behind Red Bull, the German felt that the Scuderia had a stronger package that the Austrian-based outfit, which made it even more frustrating.
“It has been up and down this year – not as good as expected and it could have been a lot better,” said Vettel.
“Points-wise we didn’t manage to score enough at the beginning of the year.
“Towards the end, we found ourselves in a very tight battle with Red Bull. But overall we had a stronger package and we should’ve finished second in the constructors’.
“The biggest disappointment was that we didn’t fight Mercedes.”
However, the quadruple World Champion remains confident Ferrari can turn things around next year.
“A lot of things have happened in the background that should make the team and should make us stronger for next year,” he said.
