Max Verstappen has revealed why he chose not to slow the field and create chaos for McLaren during the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — a tactic many fans expected him to deploy from the front.
Starting from pole, Verstappen held the lead comfortably. Some anticipated he would back up the pack, preventing McLaren from finding a clean pit window and forcing strategic complications for both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Instead, Verstappen pushed ahead, built a gap, won the race — yet still lost the championship by two points as Norris secured the P3 he needed to clinch the title.
Verstappen explained that once he understood Piastri’s tyre selection, the plan became trickier:
“I had a lot of scenarios in my head, but once I saw the tyres Oscar was on, it became quite difficult. We were probably a bit too quick up front — the others just couldn’t follow.”
He also praised Charles Leclerc’s charge behind him:
“Charles drove his heart out today… it was impressive to see.”
A major complication came when Norris switched to a two-stop strategy, giving him superior pace in the final stint — making any attempt to back up the field less effective.
Verstappen added that changes to the Yas Marina layout since 2021 also played a role, contrasting the situation with Lewis Hamilton’s famous backing-up tactic in 2016:
“If you stay on a one-stop, backing the whole thing up is tough. And the new layout makes it even harder to do that compared to 2016.”
In the end, Verstappen delivered a flawless drive — but not the title.
