Max Verstappen reveals what he told Lewis Hamilton after F1 2021 season finale

Max Verstappen has finally shared with the world what he told Lewis Hamilton in the immediate aftermath of the Dutchman's win at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen joined former F1 driver David Coulthard for an in-depth conversation about everything that happened in the final race of the season.

Alongside father and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen gave an exclusive interview to carnext.com where he said:

"I was (going crazy) the whole team was going crazy but of course there is the other side where they are very disappointed and upset. I think what was nice was Lewis (Hamilton) immediately came up to me, walked down, said 'congrats' and I said 'Thank you very much for an amazing season."

The newly-minted drivers' world champion then went on to add:

"Because at the end of the day, I think it was an amazing season. Whoever won or became second. Because we did push each other. Every single race. To the limit. With ourselves but also the car and the whole team at the end of the day."

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton contested one of the closest F1 drivers' world championships in the history of the sport. Both drivers put in solid, consistent performances throughout the campaign and went toe-to-toe all season.

However, the final chapter of the desert duel was overshadowed by Race Director Michael Masi and his decisions in the final stages of the race.

A stroke of good fortune for Red Bull and Max Verstappen came at the most opportune moment for the Dutchman. It allowed Verstappen to finish 2021 as F1 World Champion

Max Verstappen plans to race with #1 for 2022 season

He's barely done celebrating his maiden F1 drivers' world championship triumph but Max Verstappen is already charting his title defense plans for 2022.

The Dutchman has revealed he intends to race with #1 on his car when the lights go out in Bahrain next year. In doing so, he will become the first driver to run the #1 in a race since Sebastian Vettel in 2014.

Max Verstappen has earned the right to run #1 after becoming world champion. The right was previously reserved by Lewis Hamilton, who despite having the #1 at his disposal, chooses to race with his regular #44 instead.

When asked about the choice to run the #1, Max Verstappen said:

“Yeah I will run it. How many times can you do that? I don’t know, maybe it’s the only time I can in my life. It’s the best number out there. So I will definitely put it on the car.”

The last time the #1 was seen on a car at an F1 venue was in 2019 post-season testing, with Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel.