What if? F1 season was also a comedy of errors and early Christmas presents

ABU DHABI, Dec 8 : Max Verstappen was needled by one question after handing his Formula One title to Lando Norris on Sunday.

After reminding the four-times world champion that he had lost out to his McLaren rival by two points, a reporter asked the Red Bull driver whether he regretted an incident with Mercedes' George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

That clash triggered a 10-second penalty and dropped the Dutchman from fifth to 10th - the loss of nine, precious points.

"You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come. You're giving me a stupid grin now," Verstappen replied to his questioner, fixing the reporter with an icy stare.

"It's part of racing at the end. You live and learn. The championship is one of 24 rounds. I've also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half (of the season), so you can also question that."

Verstappen ended the campaign with more wins than anyone, eight to Norris and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri's seven apiece, and nearly pulled off the sport's greatest points recovery after being 104 off the lead at the end of August.

His achievement in coming back from being an 80/1 outsider to nearly retaining the title will be talked about for years to come and was helped by the failings of others as well as his own driving genius.

THE POINTS THAT GOT AWAY 

Inevitably, as the dust settled on the three-way battle that ended with the top trio separated by 13 points, there was discussion - however futile ultimately - of the what-if scenarios.

Every season has them and, like anglers talking about the mythical big fish that got away, conversations among fans in coming years will inevitably come back to the