What is the predominant feeling after securing your fourth world title?
“Winning a race, maybe winning a Championship, you know, it’s already quite difficult. You also need a bit of luck, and a good team setup to maybe win more. And we managed to do that. This year, we had a lot of tough races: during these, we were certainly not the fastest car, but we kept our course as a team. We also worked very hard at the factory. We remained calm and barely made any mistakes. We really maximized or even overperformed in some places.”
Christian Horner thinks this is your most impressive season to date. Do you agree with him?
“I think so too. Last year, I had a dominant car, but I always felt that not everyone appreciated what we accomplished as a team – winning ten GPs in a row. I will always remember my best season, because even in moments when we maybe didn’t have the perfect setup, our car was still strong enough to win races. But I am also very proud of this season because for the most part – I would say for 70% of the season – we didn’t have the fastest car, but we still managed to extend our lead. So this is definitely something I am very proud of.”
Did you doubt that you would win the title?
“You always have to believe in yourself. But a lot of things had to fall into place with the car, especially in the middle of the season when we had a lot of problems, when we didn’t really understand what was going on. I think since Austin (weekend of October 20), we have somewhat reversed the trend.”
Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have seven titles. Do you think you can possibly catch them or even surpass them?
“We have a lot of incredible young talent in the sport, and Lando Norris is certainly part of that. At times, he made my job very difficult. On several occasions, during races where they were clearly faster, we simply had no answer. But to win the Championship, you have to be consistent. I’ve known Lando for a long time. Competing against a friend for the title is always a bit different. I’m sure we’ll have many more battles to come.”
Compared to your first three titles, how did you deal with these emotions today?
“Nothing will ever surpass the emotions of the first one, because the ultimate goal is to win one. So it was a massive exhilaration. Honestly, when I crossed the line, I was very relieved. I thought to myself, “it’s over”. It’s been a series of tough races and I’m very happy. To be honest with you, when I look back on this season, probably in twenty years, when I’m retired, the 24 hours of Las Vegas won’t be in my top 10, but it’s still a very special race.”
Was there a moment when you thought you might leave Red Bull for Mercedes or another team, or even stop completely?
“In your life, every year, you ask yourself “Do I still want to do this? How do I want to do this?” It’s perfectly normal to have these thoughts about what you want to do. But I’m also not someone who makes radical decisions. And I’m very happy with my current situation. I’m very loyal to the team and I appreciate what they’ve done for me. When there are tough times, it’s very easy to say goodbye, to forget them or to ignore them. But I think it’s actually much more important to face them and get through them together.”
