Jos: “Max drove a solid race”

Published on 27 September 2015 by Mike Motilall

“Max has driven a solid race in Suzuka”, Jos Verstappen tells Sport1. “He lost some time early on, because he was not able to get pass a few drivers. But afterwards, he drove superbly!”  The 17-year old Max also took down two times F1-world champion Fernando Alonso in Japan. “You don’t have many chances to overtake here, and that McLaren-Honda was not too bad on the straights. So that was not an easy overtake manoeuvre”, according to father Verstappen.

“When Max is driving behind of someone, you see how he positions himself – you saw that in Singapore and also here in Japan – then you see that he adapts a different driving style. He tries to find more traction through the corners, enabling him to get closer. That’s being in tune. That is Max.”

Jos continues: “I think that Toro Rosso had a good strategy. The second pit stop was well planned, as Max re-emerged just in front of Alonso on the track. After that, Max was able to make tracks and get good laptimes, so he could close the gap to Sainz. But at the first pit stop, Max lost some valuable seconds, it was just not fast enough. This also resulted in him losing a position on track. That was a pity. With the harder tyre he was also making some good strides. Once again it was a solid race from Max.”

In the race, the last overtaking was done on his teammate Carlos Sainz. “The team didn’t ask Sainz to let Max pass. It was just a well-executed overtake. One could also see that Sainz was lacking speed, due to the fact that he was on the harder compound tyre and Max was on the medium.”

Regarding the car, Jos had this to say: “The STR10 is aerodynamically very good. That is evident in the slower corners. That is where aerodynamics has the upperhand. I also think that Max takes care of his tyres. He is able to drive constant lap times without too much sliding, enabling him to keep his tyres working longer. I think that that is his strong point.”

“Max works well together with his engineers. They ask Max what he thinks of the tyres and they take that into account a lot. Max is getting more experienced. He learnes quickly. The last couple of Grands Prix, he has been very strong in the race and that’s what eventually counts”, concludes the (still) most successful Dutch F1-driver.