Max Verstappen would rather this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix not signify the end of the 2017 Formula 1 season, with the Dutchman “fired up” after a recent string of strong results.
The 20-year-old has five consecutive top-five finishes to his name since claiming his first win of the year in Malaysia and followed that up with a second two races ago in Mexico. Those results marked a major turnaround of his year which had been blighted by seven retirements in the first 14 races.
His Red Bull team has also been on an upward trend, closing the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes at the front, particularly in race trim, and allowing for the three-team duel at the front many had been hoping for.
The last race in Brazil was a slight blip with Verstappen a somewhat distant fifth at Interlagos and with the Renault engine proving unreliable at the end of the year management is now key but Max is hopeful to end the year on a high.
“We will, of course, try and end the season with a strong result in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “Last year was actually quite a good race after skipping a pit stop following a spin at Turn 1, it was hard to manage the tyres to the end of the race but we did it and finished fourth.
“Abu Dhabi is the last race on the calendar but I don’t actually want the season to end,” Verstappen added. “I’m really fired up at the moment and I just want to keep going.”
Teammate Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t been quite as lucky with two retirements in the last three races and had to fight from P17 at one stage to finish sixth in Brazil. That is not dampening the hopes of the Australian, however, who revealed his fondness for the year’s final destination.
“Yas Marina has actually been one of my favourite tracks over the years but it’s been a bit like Suzuka for me though, a track that I’ve always enjoyed and gone well on but not quite reached the podium at,” he explained. “I broke that trend in Suzuka this year so hopefully I can do the same in Abu Dhabi.”
Seeing the progress Red Bull has made, the race winner earlier in the year in Baku is keen to add a second first place trophy after not enjoying the same benefits as Verstappen and doesn’t see why he can’t in the Middle East.
“When you have so much time away from the car in the offseason it helps to sign off with a strong result as it makes you feel like you really deserve a break,” Ricciardo claimed. “I think we should have a strong car in Abu Dhabi. I said I want another win before the season is out and I think we have a decent chance of achieving that.”