An interview with Max' new race engineer Rik Vernooij
Published on 16 April 2014 by Stefan Meens
The race engineer is a pivotal person within a motor racing outfit. He connects the driver to the race car and helps the driver understand his machine. In his rookie season in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, Max Verstappen works closely together with his Van Amersfoort Racing engineer Rik Vernooij.
“At the team's headquarters at Huizen, it's my responsibility to provide fast racing cars. Together with another engineer I try to develop our cars with off-track testing methods. I also prepare the cars ahead of test days and race weekends”, says Rik describing his job role.
“Of course I work closely together with the drivers and this year with Max. He is a very fast driver but there is always room for improvement. Therefore, I try to translate Max's input into a fast and suitable car set-up. All changes are in concordance with Max and it's important to discuss the data and the set-up direction we're choosing to make sure we are on the right track.”
Rik started his motor sport career at Van Amersfoort. “I studied aerospace engineering at Delft University and I was always interested in motor racing and Formula 1. However, I never really thought about working in that particular field.
In 2004, I was part of the University's Formula Student project. With a small group of students we build a small racing car and it really gives you the opportunity to understand the workings of a racing car. Afterwards I knew I wanted to pursue a career in motor sport.”
Rik approached Van Amersfoort Racing and team owner Frits invited him to the factory for a chat. In short, Rik started at the team in 2006. The following winter, he engineered a car for Van Amersfoort Racing and both parties were happy with the collaboration. With the exception of a short excursion, Max’ engineer has exclusively worked for the Dutch team.
A course or education to become a ‘race engineer’ does not exist. Experience is therefore crucial to become a proficient engineer. Rik: “I basically learned my trade exclusively at Van Amersfoort Racing. I started as the second engineer and progressed to become chief engineer when the occupant of that position left. So it’s really about learning from other people.”
Nevertheless, his aerospace degree came in handy: “What you’re basically doing is try to apply your theoretical knowledge onto the car. However, you really need to keep reading up on everything relating to a race car. It’s a learning process that never stops.”
Asked about the position of the team on the European Formula 3 grid, Rik answers honestly: “Van Amersfoort Racing is definitely the underdog compared to the championship winning teams and their endless stream of money and resources. However, I do feel that we have the best people. We focus on supporting young drivers - they need to be talented of course - by coaching and guiding them. We’ve started and developed this way of working over the last eight years and I think we are in good shape.”
When Max signed for the team, Rik had never met the talented youngster. “I didn’t know Max personally but I heard a lot about him over the last five years. I kept an eye on him as his dad Jos drove for the team and Huub Rothengatter mentioned Max’ impressive progress. So we knew that a collaboration with Max could be on the cards when he would make the switch to motor racing. Even more so because we always believed that Van Amersfoort Racing would be the right place for Max as we have a lot to offer him.”
Rik continues: “Max is fast, focused and clever. We’ve done five test days so far, and all of them went well so it’s a good collaboration.” Nevertheless, Rik remains realistic: “A relationship isn’t really tested during the easy days, it’s tried and tested in the difficult times, when there is pressure in this highly professional sport.”
When asked about Max’ strengths, Rik lists quite a few: “He is always fast, regardless of the track. It never takes him a long time to get up to speed, he’s immediately quick. That is definitely his biggest strength. Furthermore, he doesn’t need a lot of advice to be on the right track. Max has positively surprised me.”
As always, there is room for improvement. “Max already pushes himself in trying to improve, but you can always find more. For example, his driving style is still a bit tailored to a Formula Renault 2.0 car; he sometimes turns into a corner a bit early."
"If I had to mention one little point of improvement, I would say Max’ attention span should be a bit longer. But then again, it’s part of his character and it is what makes him such a good driver. Max is Max and I enjoy working with him.”
When Max signed for Van Amersfoort Racing, there was a buzz of excitement within the team. Rik explains: “Before we signed Max, he had already absolved quite a lot of test with different teams and pretty much everyone wanted to sign him. So the unique situation occurred that we signed a driver that never drove one of our cars or a Euro F3 racer.”
“In 2007 Van Amersfoort Racing took the ATS Formel 3 Cup championship with Carlo van Dam”, says Rik as he lists his most successful and proudest moments at the team. “The next year with Laurens Vanthoor was tough but in 2009 the Belgian driver took the title with Stef Dusseldorp finishing runner-up. In 2010 we finished second with Daniel Abt before taking back to back titles in 2011 and 2012 with Richie Stanaway and Lucas Auer. Last year, Gustavo Menezes finished in fourth. With all this in mind, Max will be the first Formula 1 star of the lot”, concludes Rik.
Both Max and Rik will head to Silverstone for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship opener at Silverstone, April 18 and 19. The Verstappen Info Page will report on this event so keep an eye out on our website and social media outlets.
