Verstappen: “I don’t care if they try to take my title off”

LONDON, Dec. 15 (DPA / EP) –

The brand new Formula 1 world champion, Max Verstappen, said he is not worried about Mercedes’ allegations regarding the title just won in Abu Dhabi and said he does not care if they try to take the World Cup from him in the offices.

Verstappen (Red Bull) claimed victory last Sunday and also the title after the appearance of a late safety car brought the Dutchman just behind Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), whom he then beat on the last lap.

Mercedes made an immediate double appeal, both rejected by the commissioners, and later expressed her intention to appeal against that decision; They have yet to decide whether to follow up on those statements this Thursday, although the local press already indicates that Hamilton’s team will definitively resign to follow the protests.

Verstappen was asked on his arrival in Milton Keynes, Red Bull’s headquarters on Wednesday, how he felt amid the uncertainty and whether his relationship with Mercedes and team boss Toto Wolff had been broken for good. “I’m fine, I don’t even think about it much, because I feel like a world champion, and I don’t care if they try to do it.”

“We won it on the track, we won it when there was a green light and we passed them on the track, and they can never take that away from me anyway. As for the potential appeal, I’m not busy with that. As a team, of course, it can be disturbing. , but we have really enjoyed the last few days, “he added.

Verstappen, who had already revealed that Wolff sent him a congratulatory message after Sunday’s race, added: “I think you have to accept a loss, no matter how much it hurts. I think there is a little difference between the teams.”

Regarding the current status of the appeal, he said that “it is not at all surprising just because of how the season developed until the last race, so it is just a little more. My opinion (of Mercedes) will not change, it is more or less the same. herself, “he said.