First FWS round at Sebring proves valuable for Max

Published on 28 January 2014 by Stefan Meens

The first round of the Florida Winter Series held at the Sebring International Raceway, proved to be an eventful and valuable experience for Max Verstappen as he contested in his first qualifying sessions and races in his motorsport career. The lightning fast Dutchman showcased his raw speed and potential by claiming P3 and a pole position in qualifying. On Sunday, he led most of his debut race. Unfortunately, a slight mistake in the closing stages of the race meant the son of former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen, had to settle for fourth.

During the second and third race, both driven on Monday, Max experienced a chunk of bad luck. A DNF due to a collision marked the end of race 2, whereas a drive through penalty for his jump start in race 3, meant the sixteen-year-old was out of place to fight for the podium. After completing the drive through, Max showed phenomenal speed resulting in a couple of overtakes. He would finish the final race of the first FWS round in eighth. Without a doubt, Sebring provided a harsh but vital and valuable experience for the rookie.

Where race 1 was wet, the second race of the event was accompanied by basking sunshine and a dry track. Due to the "reversed grid" rule, Max starts in eighth position, as the reverse result of the first race determines the grid. When the field of drivers, half of which consists of experienced Formula 3 drivers, is unleashed, Max shows off the Verstappen family trade; a lightning start, as often demonstrated by father Jos.

An understated Max: "My start and first few laps were pretty good", as the youngster jumps four places and finds himself in fourth whilst pole sitter Tatiana Calderon retains her lead.
In the second lap, Max is sneaking up on the 2013 FIA European Formula 3 champion Raffaele Marciello. Max: "In the first corner of the second lap, Marciello went wide and I accidentally followed him, which meant I lost two places of which I claimed one back straight away. After that it was a difficult fight to get to the front as everyone was defending their position fiercely."

Unfortunately, Max ends up colliding with Ben Anderson as Marciello is trying to overtake Anderson. "Whilst braking into the second corner, Marciello overtook Anderson who then braked about five meters earlier, whereas I braked later than him. Obviously it's my mistake as I'm the one who drove into him, damaging my front and his back wing." Both drivers have to end the race because of the collision. "The only thing I could then do is apologise", says a disappointed Max.

Meanwhile, Calderon leads the race from start to finish and takes the victory. Marciello and Dennis van de Laar experience technical issues resulting in Antonio Fuoco and Ed Jones complementing the podium.

The third race of the Sebring round looks promising for Max as he starts from pole position. Unfortunately, Max did not make the most of his clear view as he made a jumpstart at America's oldest street circuit.
"As everyone lined up for the start, I tried to find the bite point of the clutch which meant I rolled forward slightly, but I stopped the car immediately. Unfortunately that counts as a jump start which meant I got a drive through penalty. I mean, I did stop the car before the lights went out, but rules are rules."

Max continues: "Just as I stopped the car again, the lights went out, which meant I fell back to P3." After four laps, still in third, Max completes his penalty which costs him about 33 seconds. He re-joins the race in tenth. "After my drive through, I was picking up the pace, but I couldn't push as hard as yesterday as I was experiencing a bit of understeer."

Despite not being too happy with the car's balance, Max is catching the next driver up the road, Vasili Romanov, fast. Between lap seven and lap ten, Max is the fastest driver out on track and in lap thirteen he overtakes the Russian. 3.3 seconds separate Max from P8, occupied by Anderson. In lap fifteen, Max claims eighth, which ends up his finishing position. At the front, Fuoco takes the win, followed by Jones and Van de Laar.

In short, the Sebring International Raceway provided a tough challenge for Max as he lacked luck throughout the races. However, the event made up for all the bad luck in valuable experience.
"It's a shame about the race results as my qualifying performance was good. I made some mistakes in the races and I understand that is part of the maturing and learning process. Also, it's better to make these mistakes now as opposed to making them in a championship where every point matters".

Results day 3 (Monday January 27) – Sebring Raceway – Florida Winter Series:
Result race 2
Result race 3

Niels Hendrix / Stefan Meens