Max Verstappen says he deserved the 2021 title based on the whole season

Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen has said that he feels that his title in 2021 was deserved and should have in fact been wrapped up earlier, with the championship instead going down to one of the most controversial final laps in the sport’s history.

The Dutchman was a huge beneficiary of Michael Masi’s call to bring in the Safety Car to allow for one final lap of racing action back in December at the Yas Marina Circuit, with him making use of his far fresher tyres to overtake Lewis Hamilton on the final tour to seal his maiden F1 crown.

Indeed, it was a suitably dramatic climax to the season with Verstappen and Hamilton going toe-to-toe for the entirety of the campaign and Max believes that, on the balance of the whole year, he deserved the championship overall.

When asked in an interview with The Guardian newspaper whether he felt the championship was tainted by events in Abu Dhabi, he said:

“Not at all. I had a very good season and I think I really deserved it. I have been really unlucky as well. People always remember the last race but, if you look at the whole season, the championship should have been decided way earlier.”

In fairness to Max, you cannot say he did not deserve the championship over the course of the season, with him producing a number of stellar performances.

Lewis also deserved the crown based on his displays, though, and it is just such a shame that such an epic year had to come to an end in the way it did.

That, though, is all in the past with the 2022 campaign now hurtling towards us and full focus from the teams will be on the challenges ahead.

The new rules and regulations are set to throw a new dynamic into the mix and it’ll be fascinating to see which teams have got their car designs