Verstappen wants Abu Dhabi momentum to continue into 2021

Max Verstappen hopes he can carry his Abu Dhabi domination into next season.

The Dutchman claimed his second victory of the season, after winning at Silverstone in the fourth race, in fine style, leading every lap of the Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit and only having the fastest lap snatched from him by former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo on the last lap.

Despite being second best to the Mercedes car all season, Verstappen was untouchable in his Red Bull all weekend long, with team-mate Alex Albon claiming fourth behind Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen's 10th career victory was not enough to snag second place in the driver's championship from Bottas though, but he hopes he can start next season the way he finished the 2020 campaign.

“It has been a very enjoyable two days which we didn’t really expect," Verstappen said afterwards. "I expected a very tough fight today but I think we managed everything very well and there was never really a moment where I felt under pressure which is a pretty good feeling.

"To finish the year off like this I’m of course very happy with and I just hope we can start next season competitively, so we can be there right from the start, as we want to be able to try and fight for the championship but for that we need to start strong.

"Everyone in the team and at Honda has worked so hard the whole year to improve the car and this is a really good boost going into the winter and I hope everyone gets to celebrate tonight."

Albon's future at the team remains in doubt, with Sergio Perez tipped to take over the second seat at Tilbrook, but his fourth place at Abu Dhabi saw him finish seventh in the standings, level with Carlos Sainz on points, demoted due to the Spaniard's second-place finish in Italy.

The Thair driver was closing in on Hamilton in third towards the end, but the end of the race came too soon for him to make a move for a third podium of the season.

He said: “I’m happy and I think if the race was a couple of laps longer I’d be even happier as I feel we could’ve got past Lewis and taken another podium today. I was managing my tyres at the beginning of the stint and maybe I was too conservative as I had lots of life left in them at the end of the race whilst everyone else’s were starting to drop off. But overall it’s a great result for the team today and I’m happy with my race.

"I’ve felt very good with the car this weekend and it’s probably been my best in F1. There was obviously a lot of pressure coming into this race and my only goal was to focus on my performance and do the best job possible so I’m proud of how I’ve delivered under the circumstances.

"It feels great to prove to everyone that I’m strong enough mentally to deal with all the external talk and keep improving. As a team we haven’t given up, I’ve had a lot of support from everyone back at the factory and we’ve worked hard with the engineers to make me more comfortable in the car. Now I’m just looking forward to going home and relaxing with my family."