F1 world champion Max Verstappen said he had cramps in his legs in the final moments of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and that if he ran one more lap in the race, he might not be able to hold out to the end.
Max Verstappen overtook rival Lewis Hamilton in the final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to win the race and earn him the first world title of his career.
In an interview published in The Guardian on Tuesday, Verstappen revealed that he had a leg cramp in the final moments of the game, which made him feel very distressed.
"If you look at the telemetry data, you see that my throttle data at the time was very non-linear. This was the case in my legs on the last lap (cramps)," Verstappen said.
"If I had run one more lap, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish the race. The stress of the last lap is very high, and your body may react to it, but you can't give up. ”
Recalling the situation, Verstappen said: "My only thought at the time was to surpass Hamilton, I couldn't finish second. ”
"After the game restarted, I tried to throw myself into it. It wasn't until I crossed the finish line that I suddenly started to feel leg cramps. Something like this can happen when you're at your best for a long time. ”
"You feel muscles tense and become like a tennis ball. Fortunately, adrenaline plays a role, and if it happens while walking, you may not be able to move. ”
"But I had no choice and I had to keep going. My leg was getting more and more sore, and luckily, it was Turn Five ahead, and I decided to overtake here, which allowed me to lose the throttle for three seconds. ”
"Then there were two long straights, and on the second straight, Hamilton fought back at me and I could feel my feet shaking and I couldn't control them because the muscles were spasming."
Despite the controversy that the FIA is still investigating the safety car in the final moments of the race, Verstappen insists it did not lose his success. Asked if he felt his world title was being overshadowed by the controversial incident, Verstappen replied: "Not at all, I've been doing well all season and I think I deserve it. I've also had unlucky times when people always remember the last game, but if you look back at the whole 2021 season, the world championship should have been decided long ago. ”