"Such a ridiculous prize" - Max Verstappen gives his unique take on the 'Dutch Sportsman of the year award'

Max Verstappen claims he is not a fan of the awards to celebrate athletes in countries including the Netherlands.

Speaking to media including Sportskeeda ahead of the 2023 Qatar GP, the Dutchman felt that despite being the most popular Dutch sportsman, it is important to celebrate other athletes in their country.

Dutch footballer Ronald Wattereus hailed Max Verstappen as the greatest Dutch athlete of all time in his column recently. The Dutchman has been rated one of the youngest and most popular athletes in the country.

Asked to comment on Waterreus’ praise, Max Verstappen remained reluctant to compare himself to other Dutch sporting talents. As proud as he was to be Dutch, he felt it was important for the Netherlands to celebrate all kinds of talent in their country.

Verstappen, who had won the Dutch ‘Sportsman of the Year' award several times before, said:

"Again, I don't want to compare, of course at all. Everyone was amazing in their own right, in their own sport. With these kind of thing I'm just happy and I'm proud that I'm Dutch. I remember when I grew up, you realise these kind of amazing athletes. I think as a country, we should just be proud. It doesn't matter who's the best or second best."

The Dutchman felt sometimes a popular athlete blocks the award from other athletes. As frank and candid as he could get, he rubbished the concept and idea of the award and wished all athletes in every country were recognized equally.

"That’s why every year we have these kind of awards about sportsman or sports woman of the year. Why? But why? I don't even want to win it. Because it's about just appreciating all the talent we have as a country, any country. It’s not a both this it’s better than the other about achievement, we should just celebrate all the success that we have as a country," the 26-year-old said.

"That's why I find it such a ridiculous prize all the time. I'm just saying that I find it unfair for some people who are putting so much effort in their sport and they achieve incredible results. And sometimes they don't get awarded for it because of this silly, stupid one prize for one particular person. I’m just saying I’m being honest. That’s why I find it important that everyone is appreciated," he added.

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Max Verstappen believes the Qatar GP could be the toughest sprint weekend of the year

Max Verstappen believes that the 2023 Qatar GP weekend is going to be one of the toughest weekends of the season, given the warm weather.

Comparing the race to the inaugural edition of the Saudi Arabian GP in 2021, the Dutchman felt the weather was similar in terms of heat and humidity and day-to-night changes.

Max Verstappen said:

"Yeah. It feels very similar to Saudi’21 where it was very warm and very humid. So I do think it is going to be a very tough race. A thing remember already in 21 here, it was a bit colder."

"I think we came out of the car and we were quite sweaty and like it was quite tough race. Now it’s warmer so its not going to be easy for the drivers, for the car, for the tyres. But I am looking forward to it," he added.

On his way to claim a third world championship, Max Verstappen needs only three points in any of the sessions over the weekend to wrap up the title in Qatar. He currently has 400 points and leads his teammate Sergio Perez by a whopping margin of 177 points.

The Red Bull champion has racked his own statistics and records in one of the most dominant seasons of his career so far. Looking forward to Qatar, he was quite confident about his car performance around the Losail circuit and expected it to be a straightforward weekend.