Verstappen: It was never my intention to put Renault down

In an interview on his website, Verstappen said, "It was never my intention to put them down, but I want to make it better. Look, we now have a deal with Honda, but if we had continued with Renault next year, I would want us to make progress."

"It was clear that Mercedes and Ferrari were still faster, you could easily see that in the long runs. The car was actually pretty okay, at least a lot better than the year before. It felt good and there were no weird things. You saw, however, that we were still slower on the straight."

"I am just very clear in what I say. I can also say that they can take it easy, but I am not like that. It can and must be better and I just always want full commitment. However, you have to be open to criticism, that is how I grew up. I'm sorry if you can’t deal with that, but I'm not here to join in with the Olympic idea. I want to win and for that, all parties have to be committed."

Although he often complained about his power deficit, the package still took him to two victories during the course of the season and allowed him to mix it at the front more often than not in the race.

When asked to sum up the past season, the 21-year-old said, "It was a successful season. At the start, it was not easy and we learned from it. Then we performed a number of races beyond expectations."

"I also learned that I always have to listen to myself and believe in myself. You can always improve yourself because you never stop learning."

As for fourth place in the standings, he reckoned, "Let's put it this way: it is, of course, better than fifth, but it is also not a third or second. For me, the only thing that counts is being number one."

Next year Red Bull will be powered by Honda which has yet to convince anyone other than the team's insiders that they can provide Verstappen and his new teammate Pierre Gasly with a decent power unit.

But the Dutchman is confident, "Hopefully it will be a long-term collaboration. I don’t expect that everything runs smoothly at once, but you can’t expect that I think. I will always be focused, but you also have to believe in the project and be patient."