Verstappen 'just as keen on success as he was last year' says father

Jos Verstappen sees a highly motivated Max Verstappen even after he achieved his goal of becoming a Formula 1 world champion. The former Formula One driver stated during the Grand Prix weekend at Imola that his son is keen to win his second world title in the premier class of motor sport in 2022.

"He is just as keen on success as he was last year. I certainly don't see any difference from 2021. Max is not going to sit back now just because he has the first title in the bag. He wants to win this year just as badly," Jos Verstappen told F1 Insider. The 24-year old driver from the Netherlands is already 45 points behind in the World Cup standings, so he will have to work hard as there is no room for complacency this season.

That Verstappen will only settle for the maximum became clear at the start of the current season. Especially after the Australian Grand Prix, the Dutchman let it be known in no uncertain terms that Red Bull's reliability problems really need to be solved if they are to make anything of 2022.

Relationship with Leclerc and Ferrari

What will have escaped nobody's attention is that there seems to be mutual respect between Verstappen and his biggest rival in 2022. Verstappen and Hamilton were at odds quite often, but with Leclerc it is very different. According to Verstappen Sr. that has mainly to do with the fact that Max and Charles already know each other from karting and that the battle between Red Bull and Ferrari is not as big as the rivalry with Mercedes.