Max Verstappen hailed his team for their performance in the 2022 Formula 1 season, insisting they were close to perfect, the result, securing the Title double.
The double F1 Champion had a tough start to the season with two DNF’s giving a bleak prospect for the season ahead, but both he and Red Bull have bounced back in style securing the Dutchman’s second Drivers’ Crown at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Constructors’ Title followed at the United States Grand Prix, on the weekend when Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, while the team was being probed for breaching the cost cap in 2021.
“It’s been an incredible season,” Verstappen told F1’s official website. “As a whole team, we definitely didn’t expect something like this. We had a competitive start, but we retired two times in three. It was not the best start to try and defend the title.
“After that, we had a great turnaround – we kept on pushing, kept on believing kept on improving the car, which was the most important area. It is why we are here today.
“As a team, we made very few mistakes. You can’t be perfect, but for most of the races, we have been close to perfect,” the 2021 and 2022 F1 Champion insisted.
Red Bull a second family
On winning his second Title on Honda’s turf, Verstappen said: “Working together with Honda has been incredible and is incredible and they definitely deserve it, that we’ve won it on their own track.
“Thanks goes out to the whole team, back at the factory and those contributing to the powertrains division. They have been working flat-out, nobody is lacking motivation – and that’s how I like to see,” he added.
Verstappen was patient since joining Red Bull in 2016, in the midst of the Mercedes dominance, but stuck through the tough times with payoff arriving in 2021 and continuing for 2022.
“That [building something special] is what we’re trying to do,” he pointed out. “With the regulations more or less staying the same for the coming years, we can take advantage of that.
“Red Bull are my second family,” Verstappen added, “they were already world champions before I joined. We had a bit of a tough time [at the start], but I always believed in the project.
“The whole team we have – back at the factory designing the car combined with the powertrain division – we have a really great group of people who I think can be successful for quite a few years,” the Red Bull ace maintained.