Max candid: 'If you know everything in advance, that would be boring'
Published on 19 January 2025 by Florence Cobben
While Max Verstappen prepares for his first stint in the virtual 24 Hours of Daytona, which he does with Team Redline on Twitch, he takes the time to answers some questions from fans.
Max, how is it that you wanted to become a driver?
“When I grew up my dad was still in F1, and I joined him, of course, for test days and some races. I think I remembered, actually, I was in Malaysia with my mom and my dad. You know, these kind of memories, they stick in your mind”, Max begins. “Plus, my dad also had a go-karting team at the time, so you just see a lot of racing. And I just wanted to start go-karting, and I think that's where I was like: 'Yeah, I want to start driving myself'. Because at that point, it's not like I wanted to be a Formula one driver. It was like, 'I want to be a go-kart driver and have fun there'. And then the more serious go-karting became, then you start to look at what is the highest that you can achieve. And that's Formula 1. So I think it just went step by step, and I was like, 8, 9 (when) we set the goal to Formula 1.”
What are the differences between sim-racing and racing in the real world?
Max: “I think the biggest difference is, of course, the G-forces. So (everything you feel) in the real car, I mean, everything like accelerating, braking, cornering; that's something that you don’t feel (in simracing). Especially (…) at home, on a static rig, all these kind of motion rigs are slower. But of course, if you want to try and replicate a little bit of what you feel in real life, then, yeah, you buy a motion rig. And then besides that, I think what is quite similar, I think in terms of how you work on the setup, how you work out strategies... And as you see now in this race as well, you know, it's raining (so) you have to make the right call to be on the right tyres. It's exactly the same as in real life. You're working off a radar. So for me, I would say it's like 90, 95% (the same).”
You’ve had many helmet designs through the years. Which is your favorite?
“Well, the one I grew up driving in, and then I think actually the one that I used last year. It will be similar this year, a little bit different, but it's just my own design. It's quite basic. I just went back to a bit more like traditional old school kind of livery, which I enjoy more.”
You’ve driven 209 Grands Prix. Which was your favorite race out of your career?
“It's hard to choose. First of all, I don't remember all of them”, Max confesses, “but I think my first race win was very emotional. Then at the same time, winning your first championship, you know, these kind of milestones are of course incredibly important, so they have to be one of your favorite races. But then at the same time, you know, winning a race by like 30 seconds, which I think (we did) in Hungary, maybe. In Austria as well. When everything is just going really well - the whole weekend, that can be also really enjoyable. And of course we cannot forget Brazil because that was just incredibly important at that stage of the season.”
How do you deal with the pressure, when it is not a 30 second gap, and you've got someone right behind you, and you've got to make that move to win the race?
“I think experience helps with that because of course you have these kind of moments already from go-karting where you're defending on the last lap, and the pressure is the same because you want to win the race. At the end of the day you have to be confident in your ability of what you have to do. I mean I've practiced a lot when I was a kid, as well, with my dad and my teammates and friends in these kind of situations.”
What advice would you give your younger self?
“Honestly, I wouldn't give any advice”, Max admits, “because at the end of the day, you have to make mistakes in life. You have to learn it sometimes the hard way. If you would know everything in advance, I think that would be very boring. At the end of the day, once you've done it, that's the only time that you will change it or you learn from it.”
