Max Verstappen believes he has already achieved 'more than he could have ever dreamed of' after securing two Formula 1 titles at the age of 25. The Red Bull driver crushed the field in 2022, claiming a second world title with a record-breaking 15 wins and 454 points to defend his hard-won '21 crown. He joined a list including the likes of Fernando Alonso, Mika Hakkinen and Emerson Fittipaldi as a two-time champion, with the Dutchman able to join names like Ayrton Senna, Sir Jackie Stewart and Sir Jack Brabham as a three-time World Champion should he defend the crown again. However, despite not believing his success, Verstappen says he does not think about where he already ranks in the pantheon of greats.
"I think I already achieved more than I could ever have dreamt of," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.com , at the livery launch of Red Bull's RB19. "I always try to get the best out of myself, and honestly I don't really think about where I am between the all-time greats in terms of championships and wins. I just want to do my job. "I know that I have a contract until 2028 and of course I want to try and win more races and championships with this team. "But I've never really been a guy who plays the statistics or whatever, I always want to come out of a race weekend and tell myself that I gave it my all and that I really extracted everything out of myself, because then I am happy. "Once I stop racing, if I can look back at my years in Formula 1 and say: 'Did I really get everything out of it?' "If I did, if I can say yes to myself, then I am happy."
Have to accept not winning
Throughout his career prior to 2021, Verstappen was only able to grab the occasional win in a season owing to the dominance of Mercedes, but since the start of his first title-winning season, he has claimed 25 wins, more than double the next best; Lewis Hamilton on eight. Verstappen believes that his introductory period in the F1 midfield prepared him for a time when he could challenge for race victories. "You definitely lose more than you win, so it will be hard, but you just have to accept that Formula 1 is like that," he said. "Normally there's only one or two times a year where you can win races and the mentality has always been there when you go into Formula 1. "In the midfield, it is different and you deal with that because that's all learning process for potentially moving up to a winning team, which luckily I could do. "Once you are in that position, you have to show it or you have to show that you learned in the same midfield and gain all the experience that you can and put it on the table."
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