After a grueling season and an agonizing wait for confirmation that he had won the Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship, Max Verstappen was in a hurry to get the party started. It seems that it was more difficult for him to get out of it.
The sun was already starting to rise over Abu Dhabi when Verstappen left the celebrations at around 7 a.m. local time.
“All the emotions, they come out,” said the Dutchman, puffy eyes, during a video conference held on Monday.
” We had a lot of fun. Of course, when I woke up it wasn’t so pleasant. I think I regret that last drink. ”
Verstappen may well kick off a new round of celebrations after a possible upcoming ruling by the International Automobile Federation’s (FIA) International Court of Appeal.
The leaders of the Mercedes team could appeal the result of the last race of the season, Sunday. At the wheel of his Red Bull, Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the last lap to deprive the defending champion of an eighth career coronation, which would have been a record in Formula 1 history.
However, a message from Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff to Verstappen revealed a more reconciling tone.
“Toto texted me congratulating me on my season and that I deserved to win (the championship),” said Verstappen.
“It was very kind of him, of course. The emotions on this last round are very strong for both teams. Things are what they are. We will see. ”
Mercedes lost the two protests filed Sunday on the track. One of the protests concerned the possibility that Verstappen broke the rules by passing Hamilton before the end of the period on the safety car track.
The other protest was about the race restart procedure and the number of latecomers who were given the green light to go past the safety car.
Mercedes officials have claimed Hamilton would have won the race had all the latecomers been given permission to overtake the safety car, as there would not have been enough time to hold a final lap between Verstappen and the Briton, due to the time that would have been required to complete the maneuver.