Verstappen: To compete for seven or eight world championships requires luck and a dominant team

Max Verstappen said he would need "luck" and a "very dominant team" to get close to Lewis Hamilton's seven world titles.

At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of the season, Verstappen overtook Hamilton in the final lap to win last year's drivers' championship. It was an exciting championship battle from start to finish, with the points frontrunners changing hands six times and Verstappen and Hamilton making it to the decider by tiebreakers.

After winning the race in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen won his first world title, forcing Hamilton's plans to win a record-breaking eight world titles stranded.

He said in an interview: "Everything that's happening now is just a reward and I'll enjoy it." ”

Although the 24-year-old doesn't want to win just one world title, he admits it won't be easy to get close to Hamilton's seven world titles.

He said: "You need a little bit of luck to fight for seven or eight world titles, and to do that, you also need a very dominant team. If you hadn't always had that kind of luck, or if you weren't in that era, that wouldn't have happened. For me, I've always wanted to win and everything that's happening now is a bonus and if I lose a game I'll still be frustrated, but maybe in a few minutes I'll say 'it's okay'. ”

Red Bull and Verstappen are among the favourites to win the title in 2022, although it will depend on their implementation of the new rules, and F1 will launch a brand new car this season, a decision that forced the team to devote some of their energy to developing a new car last year. There are concerns that Red Bull has spent too much time focusing on their 2021 car. Last year's test driver Alexander Alpen said they "stopped" development of the 2022 car towards the end of the season, however, Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko insisted that it never happened and Alpen's remarks were a misunderstanding.