Verstappen explains Red Bull choice: 'I didn't have that left'

Record season for Verstappen

Verstappen ended a record season in Abu Dhabi with his fifteenth victory. Can that achievement be surpassed? "Hopefully yes, but that will be very difficult," the Dutchman admitted to Viaplay. "It is of course a perfect end to this season. The race went completely as planned and I spent the whole race kind of managing to drive to the end. That's how you want it to go, of course."

He continued: "I didn't have two hard sets of tyres anyway, so for me a two-stopper wouldn't have been ideal anyway because that medium tyre wasn't really top-notch." He then went fine during a long stint on the hard tyre, but Red Bull tried to rein him in somewhat. " In the last stint, the team said to me all the time: 'Not too fast, not too fast', while I actually wanted to go faster," he laughed. "But that shows it was very good."

Ricciardo interrupts interview

His interview is interrupted by Daniel Ricciardo, who gives his former teammate a big hug. Of course, it is not really a farewell, as Ricciardo is likely rejoining the Red Bull family next year. Not with a permanent seat, but this is how the Australian hopes to stay involved in Formula 1 as much as possible. Later in the interview, Lando Norris also interrupts briefly.