Verstappen targeting fourth in championship in Abu Dhabi

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Max Verstappen says his target is to finish fourth in the drivers' championship at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

The 19-year-old heads to Abu Dhabi in fifth place in the standings, five points behind Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. With team-mate Daniel Ricciardo having already secured third place in the championship, Verstappen says his aim for the final race is to ensure both Red Bull drivers beat the Ferraris.

“I just try to get a very good result," Verstappen told a Hisense Facebook Live session. "I’m still fighting for fourth in the championship so hopefully we can have a go at that. Hopefully the track will suit our car but we’ve still got to wait and see how that’s going to pan out, but I’m quite confident.”

Verstappen is targeting Vettel having had a number of disagreements with the four time world champion this season, but when asked how their relationship is the Dutch driver replied: “Good.

"We had a phone call as well [after Mexico] and I think we cleared a lot of stuff and that was fine. I think the relationship is good, no real issues there. No, absolutely not [any hard feelings] At the end of the day we are racing drivers so we get over it very quickly."

Verstappen is currently the youngest winner of an F1 race but Vettel holds the title of youngest world champion at 23 years old. Asked if he has set himself a target of breaking any other records, Verstappen insists it is not something he thinks about.

“No, absolutely not. I just wait and see. You need a bit of luck as well, you need to be in the right car to achieve those things. So I just need to wait and see what happens in the future, I just try and do the best possible job I can every year and every race.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.