He's free, Max

To Max Verstappen, the pressure builds up in the tires. Or it can be served at the counter. But that clearly doesn't stop you from sleeping.

While he is currently neck and neck with a seven-time world champion of the caliber of Lewis Hamilton and could put an end to the hegemony Mercedes in the hybrid era, the Dutchman continues to display the serene face of someone over whom the enormity of the issue slides like water over a duck's feathers.

Two weeks ago in Sochi, the pilot Red Bull had joked about the insomnia he supposedly suffered from fighting for the championship. A joke intended to send Hamilton gently back to the ropes after the Briton had suggested that his rival was perhaps overtaken by the pressure inherent in any first attempt at world conquest.

The loss of control in the Drivers' ranking in Russia for two small units (246,5 against 244,5) did not break the heart, nor the momentum of Verstappen, aware that he is undoubtedly having achieved a good affair by only giving up 7 points to his victorious opponent while he started last.

« I always try to do my best and I know it's the same on the team side, commented the Red Bull driver from Istanbul this Thursday. If that allows us to finish first at the end of the season, that would obviously be great. This is what we work for!

But even if we were to finish 2nd, I think it would still be a great season. In the end, it won't really change my life.

I love what I do and that's the main thing. I have no reason to worry ».

Verstappen believes there is little point in dwelling on the challenge ahead of him and the significance of the resounding feat of defeating Hamilton and Mercedes.

« Why stress? he also noted. I know my team is doing its best. And they expect the same from me in return.

We are totally determined to win. But you can never force things. We just have to work hard and hard and we will see at the end of the season where it takes us. 1st or 2nd, no one knows ».

In Istanbul, where its Red Bull RB16B will sport a special livery to celebrate the partnership with Honda, Verstappen will continue to chart his course. Cool.