Verstappen warns F1 title intensity could shorten career

Max Verstappen has insisted there is no need for every single championship to be as intensely fought as his triumph over Lewis Hamilton as he doesn't think "you can last a long time in F1 like that".

The F1 drivers' title came down to a last-lap shootout after a dramatic race, with long-time leader Hamilton forced to defend from Dutchman Verstappen on harder and older tyres.

The Red Bull driver made his lunge at turn five on the final lap before being forced to defend from the Mercedes all the way down the two succeeding straights, eventually taking his maiden title.

The chaotic finale came at the end of a dramatic season in which momentum swung from driver to driver with both Verstappen and Hamilton often finding themselves in close-quarter combat, yet with the season touted as one of the best in F1 history, Verstappen told CarNext: "I don't need to improve on this.

"For me, it doesn't need to be like this every single year, I don't think you can last a long time in F1 like that.

"I am happy with how it played out but it was an amazing season, I think.

"A lot of unpredictable things happened, of course, the two teams fighting against each other, that is always more exciting than when it is just one team dominating and it is just the two team-mates basically fighting."

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