Watch: Max Verstappen gets emotional talking about Red Bull's 2023 car 'Rocky' after its last race

Three-time world champion Max Verstappen got emotional while paying tribute to his all-conquering RB19 after the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

The Red Bull RB19 will go down in F1 history as the most dominant car statistically. It won all but one race out of 22 in the 2023 season, with Verstappen alone winning 19 of them and two going to his teammate Sergio Perez.

When asked to summarize his feelings after driving the RB19, which he calls 'Rocky', for one final time in Abu Dhabi, where he won his fourth consecutive race, Max Verstappen said:

“I’m afraid, I’ll always look back at the RB19 as my most successful car. It's going to be probably going to be a little bit emotional when you jump out for the last time knowing that you are not going to be in it again, thinking about how you have achieved a whole year but that's how life goes, you move on. Hopefully, next year will be a rocket again."

Max Verstappen reflects on the 2023 season after Abu Dhabi GP

The Red Bull driver signed off the season and the car by doing donuts on the pit straight just before parking the car in his first position slot.

In his post-race press conference, Max Verstappen pointed out that the RB19 was better everywhere in every aspect and was almost bulletproof as it did not have mechanical failures. He said:

"Well, in general, the car has been better than last year and we were very solid in terms of no retirements, no real issues on the car which of course is also a big key to that. From my side, every single year I try to do better but I think better - it's more about just general experience in F1 and trying to put the weekend together a bit more.

"Some weekends work better than others. And then yeah, besides that, just try not to make too many mistakes. Try not to get too much damage on the car with the cost cap and stuff, these kinds of things which I think worked quite well."

Red Bull will have a huge advantage over its rivals as they have more development time for the 2024 season due to the dominance of the RB19 in 2023. Max Verstappen would hope that he could replicate the success of this season next year as well to bring him his fourth successive title.