Max Verstappen enjoyed a highly dominant Formula 1 campaign but as the Dutchman describes, it wasn’t completely error-free.
Max Verstappen has revealed his one “embarrassing” mistake from his highly dominant Formula 1 campaign this year.
Verstappen won 19 out of the 22 races staged en route to a third World Championship.
The Dutchman was largely unchallenged throughout the campaign and broke several records in one of the most one-sided seasons in F1 history.
However, the 26-year-old named a mistake that he made during the year, which occurred in the final minutes of the Q1 qualifying segment at the British Grand Prix.
Verstappen understeered into the pit lane wall and damaged his front wing while leaving his garage.
“I only made one big mistake this year,” he told Blick. “I drove into the pit wall at Silverstone.
“That’s rather embarrassing. But not everything went perfectly in Singapore either [Ferrari won the race with Carlos Sainz].
“Unfortunately, I made a mistake with the set-up – and that’s what happened, our only defeat in 2023.”
Verstappen not missing tense fights
Verstappen’s third title was vastly different to the success of his first which came after a hard-fought campaign against Lewis Hamilton.
A fierce battle occurred between the two throughout the year and they clashed on several occasions.
When asked if he misses battling for wins and titles in such high-pressure situations, Verstappen said: “No. I was happy with how this season went.
“Sure, I appreciate the duels we once had. But now I especially appreciate the successes we can celebrate as a team.
“Of course I love to dominate the races. But that also means fighting with myself.
“I don’t always look at the race results, I just try to do everything better in the cockpit, to understand or improve things.”