Max satisfied after two day Formula Renault 2.0 test

Published on 29 November 2013 by Niels Hendrix

Max Verstappen gained another chunk of valuable track time during a two day test session, at the Motorland Aragon in Alcaniz (Spain), in preparation for his debut season in auto racing. The second and last day of the test took place after a cold night where temperatures dipped below zero. The rapid Dutchman, driving once again for the Tech 1 Racing team, experienced a mixed day.

During the morning session, Max struggled somewhat, but the reasons became apparent after lunch: The rear wheel suspension was not set up correctly. Max explains: "Normally the rear wheels are set up with negative camber, in other words with the wheels pointing inwards. In my case they were aligned straight which slowed us down in the morning." Verstappen junior continues: "Overall though, in terms of lap times everyone was closer to each other than previous test days."

With the morning issues resolved, Max was able to match his fastest time from the Wednesday, a 1:55.4. His times were encouraging as Tech 1 and Max worked through a testing programme in which several set ups were used, mainly on used tyres.

"Our focus today was to try out several set ups. Therefore we weren't so much aiming for the fastest lap." All in all Max left the track after the two day test with a positive and ambitious feeling: "Today I managed to do 70 to 80 laps and considering I had to learn the track I cannot complain too much about my performance", said a defiant Max who, as usual, puts the bar very high for himself.

During his tests on the Hungaroring and Alcarras, Max clocked times that were faster than the official Formula Renault 2.0 lap records. During the test at Motorland Aragon, the youngster remained a tenth shy of the track record, set in 2011. Therefore Max proved again that the interest of several Formula 1 teams is justified and does not come as a surprise.

Johan Peeters / Stefan Meens