"I felt more pressure" - Max Verstappen reveals 2021 season race he was "relieved" to finish

Max Verstappen has revealed that he felt a lot of pressure before the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix, as it was also his home race. The Dutchman dominated the event after starting in pole position. The driver claims the pressure before the race at Zandvoort was second only to that in his championship-winning battle in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen was greeted by thousands of screaming fans dressed in orange at Zandvoort, in the Netherlands. The 24-year-old beat rival Lewis Hamilton to pole position by 0.038s. Despite a home Grand Prix-winning drive in the main race, the young Dutchman had a moment of relief at the end, managing to uphold the expectations of Dutch fans. He spoke about the pressure in an interview with CarNext:

“Besides the last Grand Prix [in Abu Dhabi], that was the race where I felt more pressure than other ones. Because everyone expected me to win there, the fans. It was like, ‘Max is coming here, and he’s going to do it, he’s going to win.’ But, of course, we’re in this tense battle, and it was going a bit up and down in terms of performance.”

Max Verstappen went on to say that he wanted the race in his home country to be perfect and that it did go almost perfectly, winning from pole position against Hamilton. The Dutchman expressed the relief he felt at the checkered flag, claiming he felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He said:

“The whole weekend, of course, I wanted it to be perfect. And it was basically almost perfect. It couldn’t have [gone] better [than] pole position and winning the race, but also the way in the race, they really threw everything at me with strategy, with the two cars, playing a different one, and we still managed to win it. So, it was an amazing feeling, but also when I crossed the line, I was also relieved. I was like, ‘The weekend is done. I can rest now!’”

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Max Verstappen the most successful Dutchman in F1

Max Verstappen was the most successful Dutchman in the sport even before winning his maiden title in Abu Dhabi. His father Jos Verstappen was the former most successful Dutchman with a career that lasted nearly ten years. In those ten years, however, the senior Verstappen did not manage to get a single win. In comparison, Max won 10 races in the 2021 season alone.

Verstappen Jr. broke the long-standing Michael Schumacher record for the highest podiums in a season — with 18. The record was set in the 2002 season where the German managed to appear on the podium a staggering 17 times in 17 races.

In the eyes of many, Schumacher's podium record is still unbeaten as the German maintained a 100% podium percentage compared to the 24-year-old's 81%.

Max Verstappen will star alongside Sergio Perez in the RB18 in 2022, where the Dutchman will be hoping that he can defend his maiden title victory in the sport.