Preview with Max and Carlos on Singapore and Japan

Published on 14 September 2015 by Niels Hendrix

As Scuderia Toro Rosso prepares for the final part of the season, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz chat about the first two back-to-back races coming up, Singapore and Japan. Toro Rosso joined them to hear all about what they think of these two Grands Prix as well as... night vision, carrots, fans and sushi!

Let's talk about Singapore... Share your thoughts and feelings for this race...
Max: [Max immediately stands up and switches the lights off.] "It's to find inspiration to talk about it!" [He jokes and turns lights back on again.] “Racing in Singapore is going to be something really special."
Carlos: "The race programme is so weird! Not the usual driver routine at all... Breakfast at 15:00, lunch at 19:00!"
Max: "You are Spanish, you always eat late at home so this isn't that different for you!"
Carlos: "We go to sleep very late, wake up late... To drive at night is always different, our night vision needs to be perfect!" [He laughs.]

[All of a sudden, Max walks away, takes some carrots from the Red Bull Energy Station buffet and comes back...]
Max: "Don't they say carrots are good to improve your eyesight? Carlos, let's have some, c'mon!" [Max hands a few carrots to Carlos, who smiles back at him.]
Carlos: "However, I've been told that the lights there are very strong and you can't really tell its night-time..."

Max: "I'm really looking forward to the challenge.” [While munching on some carrots]. “It's true that we've already experienced a bit of night racing in Bahrain this year, but that was a permanent race track and now we will be racing at a street circuit, which is always more tricky... It reminds me of Monaco, as we will be driving close to the walls and it won't be easy to overtake, but I'm sure we will have some good fun out there!"
Carlos: "Yeah, and it will be much hotter than Monaco, that's for sure! It seems like a pretty interesting track: long, with a lot of corners, braking, bumpy... And it will suit our car quite well! I'm very happy to have finished the race in Monza after four retirements in a row, and hopefully we can now make the most out of this weekend – Singapore is a very good opportunity for us to score points!"

And then there's Japan straight after that...
Max: "It will be special to go back to Suzuka! I remember last year, first time at a real Formula 1 circuit with a Formula 1 car on such a challenging track... Wow... It's a great track to drive and I can't wait to go out there again. The first sector is great, with a lot of high speed corners and I like the 130R. You need to find the right rhythm and stay in total focus to get the most out of a lap. The environment and the people are also very nice! They really like F1."

Carlos: "Suzuka seems to be very similar to my favourite tracks, Spa and Silverstone, so I think I'm really going to enjoy it there. Probably it will become one of my favourite tracks once I've driven a lap of it on the Friday. I've also heard a lot of good things about the Japanese fans. They seem to be very passionate... I'm really looking forward to it!"
Max: "And eating some sushi!"
Carlos: "Definitely! My race engineer is mad about it and since the beginning of the year he hasn't stopped reminding me of our sushi dinner in Japan... The time has come!"

On Twitter and Facebook we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action.

You can find the schedule for the Singapore Grand Prix here.

Click here to participate in a contest for the Singapore GP and win Verstappen-goodies!