"I will always remember for the rest of my life" - Max Verstappen shares his fondest memory of Sebastian Vettel

Max Verstappen reminisced about Sebastian Vettel staying back at Silverstone to check on him after a massive crash as a moment he will never forget.

The Red Bull driver was involved in a huge crash at Silverstone last season that required a trip to the hospital. Verstappen returned to the track to pick up his stuff, where Vettel was waiting to check if he was alright.

Speaking about Vettel during the pre-race press conference ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP this weekend, Max Verstappen termed the aforementioned moment as one he will never forget. He said:

"For me, one thing I will always remember for the rest of my life, last year, in Silverstone, I came back from the hospital to get to my motorhome to get all my stuff and he was there, waiting for me when I got out of the car. And he said, ‘are you OK, Max, how are you doing? Are you okay?’ And that just shows how he is, you know, a super nice, caring person who is not only there for performance, but also means well, you know."

Max Verstappen then hailed the former Red Bull man for his exploits on the track, adding:

"He has meant a lot to Red Bull. He came through as a junior and basically achieved all of it in the sport, you know. I mean, he still has a lot of friends within Red Bull, of course all the way up. He's had a career which a lot of people could only dream of. But at the end of the day, that's not everything. I think, as a person, he's always been very caring. Of course, I had my heated battles with him, especially in the beginning of my career."

Sebastian Vettel is about to race for the 299th and final time in F1 on Sunday.

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"He's a real family man" - Max Verstappen on Sebastian Vettel

Max Verstappen has said that he will swap helmets with the retiring Sebastian Vettel as a mark of respect this weekend. He then commended the German for being a quintessential family man and an inspiration for the grid, saying:

"I think that's also really nice to be remembered like that. And yeah, we'll also do a helmet swap this weekend, so that's definitely a very nice helmet to have in the collection. He will definitely be missed. But on the other hand, I also really wish him well for the future, whatever he wants to do, to be honest, but I think what is most important is to spend time with family. You know, he's a real family, man. And that's great to see and a great example."

Sebastian Vettel will be looking for a good finish to wind down his illustrious F1 career. The Aston Martin driver is 11th in the driver standings, 13 points behind tenth-placed Valtteri Bottas.