The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix perfectly summed up the 2022 season, with Max Verstappen qualifying on pole and then driving off into the sunset on race day, facing very little challenge on his drive to victory.
Red Bull won the constructors’ championship but fell short of their first ever one-two finish in the drivers’ championship, after Charles Leclerc outscored Sergio Perez in Abu Dhabi.
Perez claimed after the race that his teammate held him up in his battle with the Monegasque driver, a claim which has been quickly rubbished by former Dutch F1 driver Jan Lammers.
“I thought it was a very unique statement when he said Max held him up. I thought it was a little crazy,” he said.
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“He got too much out of his tyres at the start and paid the price. Max is so consistent with his times that sometimes Perez pushes too hard, while Max just neatly does his laps like clockwork.”
Verstappen is often criticised for his hard racing style, with the Dutchman often driving at the limit in his pursuit of victory, which sometimes leads to incidents with other drivers.
Lammers has suggested that fans are simply seeing the finished article of a complete racing driver, with the 25-year-old being a once in a generation driver.
“Fans of other drivers may blame him for sometimes attacking or defending too hard, but he’s a racer through and through,” he said.
“So I’m very aware of how special what we are seeing now is and how inspiring he is to so many people.”
The Dutchman was booed during his post-race interview with Jenson Button after the Abiu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is not the first time that the driver has faced a frosty reception.
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Lammers has warned fans that Verstappen is being affected by their unreasonable treatment, which has no place in Formula 1.
“When it happens, I think I see a kind of sadness in his eyes. He’s just talking but you can see him thinking ‘What’s this?’ I think that’s sad, but luckily he can rise above it and perform above it,” he claimed.
Verstappen was most likely given such a hostile reception in Abu Dhabi as a result of his controversial title win at the circuit in 2021, but fans should remember that is was not the Dutchman that altered the safety car procedure, and therefore should not be blamed for how the race eventually panned out.