Jos Verstappen has spoken of his pride after son Max won his first ever F1 World Championship in a thrilling season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver clinched the title after a late Safety Car allowed him to swap to the Soft tyres and attack Lewis Hamilton - in the lead on old Hard tyres - on the final lap. Whilst Jos can acknowledge that the Safety Car played a key role in the situation, he has also praised the younger Verstappen's approach, as well as that from his team. "I'm very proud, of course," Verstappen Snr told Sky Sports . "I mean, of course, because of the Safety Car, we are in this situation, but still, you have to do it, and I think the team had a good strategy on that as well. They called him in [to the pits]. "They're doing a lot of things very good, and I think Max was the driver this year - he really deserved this championship."
Verstappen was "flat out" every lap
With Hamilton and Mercedes performing strongly in the latter half of the season, Verstappen saw his championship advantage being reduced race by race, leading to both drivers arriving at the season finale on equal points. Jos admits that this was a concern for everyone in the team, but that Max never gave up, an approach the 24-year-old applied to his performance in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. "I think the whole team was worried, because we know their [Mercedes'] speed," the elder Verstappen explained. "But still he kept fighting. He will always fight. That's in his DNA, I guess. and that's what he has done today. He said to me, 'Every lap I was flat out and driving to the maximum'. "And then he had one chance, one lap, and that's what he took." With the race appearing to slip away from Verstappen and Red Bull during the earlier stages, Jos was seen walking out of the back of the team garage at one point. However, he made sure that he was back in time to witness his son's resurgence on the final lap. "During the race, I walked away because I didn't believe it anymore," Verstappen Snr said. "But I came back the last lap!"
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