Paris, Dec 12 (AFP/APP):From the moment that Max Verstappen joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2014, there was an inevitability that he would one day become Formula One world champion.
That it came in the shape of a sensational last lap sprint in Abu Dhabi on Sunday which toppled seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton from his throne will make it even sweeter to the 24-year-old, the first Dutchman to wear the crown.
“My goal when I was little was to be a Formula One driver,” said Verstappen after the finish in Abu Dhabi.
“You dream of podiums and victories. But when they tell you that you are world champion, it’s incredible.”
The 36-year-old Hamilton has been a sensational champion with Mercedes but Verstappen’s victory suggests the arrival of a new world order.
His pace and talent has long been evident but it is his calmness under pressure and willingness to go toe to toe with a genuine F1 great, even when things got hairy, that has marked out this season’s rise to the top.
At Silverstone, Verstappen ended up in the crash barriers; at Monza he crash-landed his Red Bull on top of the Mercedes. In Saudi Arabia, Hamilton crunched into the back of the Red Bull after Verstappen braked to let him pass.
The incidents on the track have led to a war of words off it. The Dutchman labelled the seven-time world champion a “stupid idiot” while Hamilton accused the young pretender of being “over the limit” in Jeddah.
In Abu Dhabi, Verstappen produced one of the most unlikely wins imaginable with a last lap dash that confounded the experienced Hamilton.
Not once, though, did the challenger take a step back or wilt under the pressure.
“He seems to deal with the pressure better than other people,” said two-time world champion Fernando Alonso earlier in the season.
“Everyone is different, but it seems that for him it is not a big deal.”
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