Verstappen after successful F1 season: 'I wouldn't call it true dominance'

Asked whether he prefers a dominant season like this year or a tough battle like last year, Verstappen replied that both have their pros and cons. However, he stressed that it was not really a dominant season as was the case with Mercedes for a long time, for example.

No true dominance according to Verstappen

The Red Bull driver argued that he was indeed pushed by the competition, but that the same competition faced reliability problems. "It looks like a dominating season, but actually when you look at it, I didn't have that many poles because our car over one lap wasn't the quickest for most of the season," he explained.

"I wouldn't say this was true domination because if you really dominate you put it on pole and just drive off into the distance and that's it. Which most of the time wasn't the case, especially at the beginning of the year where I don't think we had the fastest car but we still got a few wins," Verstappen continued.

Especially in the early stages of the season, those wins were worth a lot as the Dutchman realised it could be an uphill battle. A dominant season or an uphill battle; he does not have a clear preference. "I like both, I like to fight for it but also sometimes it's nice to dominate, like for example Spa," Verstappen said.