- As Max Verstappen battled Lewis Hamilton for the F1 title, he was also battling a "massive cramp."
- The Dutchman said Thursday that he got cramp in his throttle leg on the final lap in Abu Dhabi.
- While he was ultimately fine, Verstappen did suggest that the cramp could have cost him victory.
While Max Verstappen was fighting Lewis Hamilton for the Formula One world championship, he was also battling something else – a massive cramp.
The Red Bull driver overtook Hamilton in the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend to win his maiden world championship, but the last minute stiffness might have cost him.
Speaking at an FIA awards gala where he picked up his championship trophy, Verstappen said he had to deal with a "massive cramp" during the contentious final lap in the United Arab Emirates.
"I started to cross the line for the last lap and I got a massive cramp in my leg so I had to deal with that, in my throttle leg as well," he said.
"When I was actually going to go for the move into turn five, I had a massive cramp and I was actually very happy there was a corner coming up so I could actually brake.
"But that was also the move to then go into the lead which was great but then there were two long straights to defend and to deal with a cramp like that is not very nice.
"But I also knew I was fighting for a world championship here and it's always been my dream so I was just biting through that moment.
"On TV you don't see those kind of things but it was very painful."
Cramp while driving is actually relatively common in Formula One, thanks to the tight cockpit conditions, extreme physical pressure on drivers' legs, and their frequent dehydration playing a role.
While for Verstappen it didn't impact his title victory, it could have caused all sorts of problems.
As an example, during the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, Hamilton suffered a cramp in his throttle leg which forced him to lift off the accelerator on the straights towards the end of the race.
Hamilton was leading that race by over 25 seconds so it wasn't an issue, but in Verstappen's case, being forced to lift could have let Hamilton past and lost the Dutchman the title.
Speaking at the FIA awards Thursday, Verstappen also discussed the immediate aftermath of the race, which he said left him "a bit deaf" thanks to the victorious screams of his crew and teammates.
Former Red Bull driver Alex Albon, for instance, screamed "OH MY LORD MAX!" repeatedly into Verstappen's earpiece.
"It was for everyone, what it meant," Verstappen said Thursday.
"Especially after all these years of domination from Mercedes where nobody had a chance to finally have a fight, I think everyone wanted that.
"To then come away with the championship is insane in a way but just an incredible season and I really loved it.
"It's been an incredible battle with Lewis, one of the greatest drivers ever in Formula One, and I think we really pushed each other to the limit, sometimes over the limit but that's also part of racing,
"I think at the end of the day we respect each other and that's very important."
Dit artikel is oorspronkelijk verschenen op z24.nl