Max Verstappen and his father Jos revealed the details of the chats they had with the Hamiltons, and heaped praise on them for their class.
It was an absolutely incredible down-to-the-wire battle between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021. They gave absolutely everything throughout the year, but in the words of David Croft, “They have shared a brilliant championship battle, but the championship can only be won by one, and it’s going Dutch in 2021!”
While one father and son pair celebrated into the night, another one sat in silence contemplating what had just happened. Even in defeat, the latter were there to congratulate the former, earning the praise of everyone watching.
Verstappen and his father revealed the chats they had with the Hamiltons, and praised them for their class and sportsmanship.
“The whole team were going crazy, but of course you have the other side where they are very disappointed and upset,” Max Verstappen said during an interview for his sponsor CarNext.
“I think what was nice, of course, Lewis immediately came to me (and said) ‘well done, congrats’ and I said ‘thank you very much for an amazing season’ because at the end of the day I think it was an amazing season, whether we won or came second.
“We did push each other every single race to the limit, with ourselves but also the car and the whole team. I think everyone is very happy that the season is over, to have a bit of a break because it has been very tense and very tough on everyone. But it was definitely a great rivalry.”
One father to another
Jos Verstappen talked about Hamilton’s father Anthony Hamilton, and praised his counterpart for his attitude and grace.
“When I was sitting with Max before he went up to the podium, Anthony was there and he congratulated us. That was really nice,” he said.
“Also, during the season I had some conversations with him over WhatsApp. He’s really nice.
“They won seven titles already, so for them it’s a bit different, I think, (to) when we win the first one. But he’s always respectful.”
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