Verstappen indifferent about TIME ranking: 'Don't know what to do with it'

No win for Max Verstappen last Grand Prix in Miami. Although he more than wished victory to his good friend Lando Norris, missing out on win number 59 could have hurt the Dutchman a little. After all, winning is the ultimate motivation for him to drive in Formula 1, Verstappen told Sky Sports.

"I like winning. I like being on top," the three-time world champion stated to the UK's F1 broadcaster. "I like working with all the great people that we have in the team. Always trying to just be as close as possible to perfection. I think that is what really motivates me."

The Dutchman is a three-time world champion, and a fourth title seems imminent this season. Verstappen would be happy with it, but it is not as if winning world titles is his goal now. Indeed, he no longer has goals in Formula 1, the Dutchman told us. "It’s just about staying where I am at the moment. I’m just trying to win more because I have achieved already everything that I wanted to achieve in the sport. I want to do all different kinds of racing outside Formula One at one point."

Chosen by TIME Magazine

The outside world sees Verstappen as more than just a driver hungry for more victories. TIME Magazine also considers the Dutchman a role model. The US magazine even thinks Verstappen is among the 100 most influential people in the world. "Honestly I don't know what to do with it. I guess it's nice but for me personally it's not changing my life and it doesn't change what I’m doing here which I find way more important. It's not something that when I grew up, I was like 'I need to be in the top 100 most influential people in the world'."