Former team boss Günther Steiner was surprised by Max Verstappen‘s reaction to losing the title to Lando Norris. The Dutchman was – to his own great surprise – still a title contender until the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, but fell just two World Championship points short of beating Norris. After the race, however, Verstappen didn’t seem too upset about his loss. According to Steiner, this is a sign of growth in the four-time world champion: ‘He’s just become more mature’.
Max Verstappen narrowly lost – by two World Championship points – the drivers’ championship to Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi. The Dutchman said after the race that he wasn’t too upset about missing out on the title this year. “The fact that I was two points short is just the way it is. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s one, two, or fifty.”
Former team boss Günther Steiner was surprised by Verstappen’s relaxed attitude in Abu Dhabi. “I was honestly a bit surprised by it,” the Italian admits in the Red Flags podcast. “I don’t think it has anything to do with him becoming a father. I think he’s just become more mature and realizes that he did a great job. He won more races than the world champion, think about that. And he certainly didn’t have the best car in the field.”
‘Max will come back’
According to the former team boss of Haas, Verstappen’s reaction has a lot to do with his satisfaction with the course of the second half of the season in particular. The Dutchman ruled himself out for the world title after the summer break, but then gained more than a hundred points on his McLaren rivals. “What he achieved, nobody expected,” says Steiner, who then tries to guess the Dutchman’s train of thought. “He probably thinks: ‘I didn’t win, but I had a good season. I’ll just move on and I’ll come back’. And he will come back, don’t worry about that. If you give him the right material, he will do it.”
