"This year I've had to work more"- Max Verstappen feeling 'special' after winning 2022 F1 Dutch GP

Max Verstappen won his home race, the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, for the second year in a row. The Dutchman started in pole position but found himself in a battle with his 2021 championship rival Lewis Hamilton later in the race.

The 24-year-old has now won his 10th race of the 2022 F1 season and is well on his way to securing his second world championship title. The Red Bull driver seemed to be on the back foot earlier in the weekend, with Mercedes and Ferrari seemingly having more pace than the Austrian team.

In classic Max Verstappen fashion, however, the Dutchman bounced back with a vengeance and secured pole position before going on to win the race. He is now only three wins away from equalling Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel's record for the most wins in a season.

The reigning world champion's win at Zandvoort didn't come easy on this occasion, with Lewis Hamilton leading much of the race before a late safety car helped Verstappen pull the trigger on the Briton.

Speaking to David Coulthard in parc fermé after the race, Max Verstappen said:

“It wasn’t a straightforward race. We had to push the whole race. Of course with the safety car and virtual safety car, making the right calls...it was a bit of a question mark but it worked out really well. Once we got back on the soft tyres, we had great pace again.”

When asked about his emotions about winning his home race for the second year in a row, Max Verstappen rued that it was a lot more difficult than in 2021. He said:

“It is always special to win your home Grand Prix. It was the same last year. This year I had to work for it a little more, so yeah, an incredible weekend and really happy we got the Dutch GP.”

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Max Verstappen highlights difference between 2021 and 2022 F1 seasons

Max Verstappen highlighted the critical difference between the 2021 and 2022 F1 seasons, claiming the former was based much more on qualifying sessions than this year. The 2021 F1 cars were unable to follow each other closely, leading to a significant gap between the leaders and the rest of the field.

With cars now being able to follow each other more closely, drivers can start further back on the grid and still be able to fight for points. As a result, Max Verstappen claims that teams are more focused on race pace in 2022 as opposed to qualifying.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, the Dutchman said:

“I think the last few years, the focus was a lot on qualifying, because in some tracks, it was super-hard to follow and the cars just got a bit uncontrollable when you got really close, unless you had a big pace advantage or tyre advantage. Now, at least, you know that even if your qualifying wasn’t great, there is a chance that you pass them anyway in the race, if you have good race pace. That’s nice.”

Verstappen is now more than a hundred points clear of his championship rival Charles Leclerc, who managed a P3 finish at Zandvoort. With the historic track at Monza likely to suit the Red Bulls a lot more than the Ferraris, the Dutchman might just have his 11th win of the season.