Max Verstappen admits he ‘cried’ in car as he outlines how much longer he plans to drive

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Max Verstappen won his first World Drivers’ Championship in Abu Dhabi on Sunday in a controversial victory over Lewis Hamilton. And the Dutchman has revealed that he marked the occasion by letting tears of joy flood out in his car as he became the third-youngest driver of all-time to win the accolade.

Verstappen beat Hamilton on the final lap – the only one in which he led the Brit – alongside earning the fastest lap to finish eight points ahead of Hamilton in the season.

With Hamilton ahead by 10 seconds on lap 53, Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi crashed to signal the safety car’s presence.

This presented the opportunity for Verstappen to catch Hamilton and pit for a new set of tyres, with the Brit not doing so as he didn’t want to concede first place.

And with Michael Masi’s decision to allow untapped cars to undertake Hamilton with just one lap left, Verstappen finished ahead to overtake his title rival and win the Championship.

Floods of emotion came over the Dutchman – so much so that he cried after winning the race.

“Yeah, it was insane,” he said.

“Everyone’s screaming on the radio. Everyone’s super emotional, not thinking it would happen initially.

“Also me, I was crying on the lap, there’s no hiding about it. It was just insane. The whole lap, [I] couldn’t believe it.

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“The stress of the whole season, the whole battle, and then it looked like it was not going our way. Suddenly, it turns around in a crazy fashion and then it does come your way.

“I mean, it couldn’t have been more dramatic!”

The stars will now take an end-of-season break before training commences again in the new year.

The first race of the next championship comes in Bahrain on March 20.

But with one title already in the bag, Verstappen believes anything else is just a bonus.

“[A] few more years in Formula 1,” he continued.

“I said already that anything now, what happens, is just a bonus after winning the championship.

“That was my final goal.”

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