"Sporting success does not determine my entire life": Max Verstappen on being level-headed despite his F1 success

Max Verstappen does not feel any differently now when he has a dominant car compared to when he had to fight hard for the title in 2021. The Dutch driver made his debut in F1 in 2015. He was promptly promoted to Red Bull in 2016 and he took over as their lead driver in 2019.

In 2021, Verstappen had a title-contending car for the first time. What followed for a year-long battle for the title between the Red Bull driver and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Eventually, in the last lap of the season, the title went Verstappen's way in one of the most thrilling finishes to a campaign.

Max Verstappen had a somewhat smoother run to the title with not much competition from Ferrari and Charles Leclerc in 2022 and nothing at all in 2023. In conversation with Formule1, Verstappen said that for him the focus has always been on how he performs over a weekend:

“To be honest, I always felt the same way. I expect myself to do well and get the most out of a race weekend. If only so that I can't blame myself afterwards.

"It's not that I'm afraid of failure and I can put things aside quite quickly. As long as you keep telling yourself: 'Formula 1 is nice and it's nice when you're successful, but it's not everything'."

He added:

"That's important that you realize that. Sporting success does not determine my entire life, so I am quite relaxed about it. Since the first world title anyway. I've said it before: everything that comes after is a bonus. That approach works well.”

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Max Verstappen on how he keeps balance in his life

Max Verstappen also talked about how he keeps balance in his life, which comes from only following other sports during his free time.

The Red Bull driver also talked about how he maintained a relationship with his father-in-law Nelson Piquet (a 3x world champion) as well in Brazil where the two never talked about F1 or motorsports in general.

"I only follow other sports and athletes, also to gain balance in my life," said Verstappen. "I don't want to know everything - especially when I'm at home - about what's going on in the paddock.”

He added:

“That certainly also applies to family visits in Brazil, when I see my father-in-law (three-time world champion Nelson Piquet, ed.). Then we are really not talking about motorsport.

"He's talked about that more than enough in his life. At a certain point you don't feel like it anymore and you've stopped talking about it. I understand that, there is more to life.”

Max Verstappen has taken over at the top of the sport and is expected to continue his dominant run in 2024 as well.