Mercedes reserve driver is convinced: "Verstappen deserves the title"

While Stoffel Vandoorne experienced the season at the heart of the Mercedes team, he also saw it from the side of Max Verstappen. The two live a stone's throw away from each other in Monaco, so they run into each other regularly.

Similarly, the day after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Vandoorne explains. "He told me that normally he never feels pressure, but that during the last Grand Prix he felt such intense pressure for the first time in his career", he says in conversation with rtbf.be.

Vandoorne wishes Verstappen the title from the bottom of his heart

He continued: "He was super happy because he sacrificed so much to get there. He deserves his world title, especially considering the strides he and Red Bull have made." Earlier, Vandoorne said he disagreed with suggestions from the likes of Lewis Hamilton that the championship result had been manipulated by the race committee.

In addition, the Belgian driver believes that the world title was already decided earlier in the season, but that the outcome was only delayed by Verstappen's bad luck throughout the year. "Honestly, if you look at Max's season, there were three moments where he lost a lot of points. If that hadn't happened, he probably would have become champion earlier," Vandoorne concluded.