Xevi Pujolar: “Max always wants to improve his own performance”
Published on 29 September 2015 by Mike Motilall
It’s been a year now since Max made his first public appearance during a Grand Prix weekend, when he drove the STR9 during the first free practice on Suzuka. “I can still remember that very well. It has all gone so quickly”, Xevi Pujolar, Max’ race-engineer, recounts to Sport1.
“I can still remember our first test with Max in Italy, on a track with very low speed corners. We were shocked. The track was not even representative, but it was his first time in an F1-car. The track was wet but he had total control of the car. Max had of course go-karting experience. You clearly saw his talent in that. But the big question was, how well would he perform in a Formule 1-car, with all that pressure on his shoulders. Suzuka is a difficult and demanding circuit, but Max drove a very good session, without any mistakes.”
The Spaniard continues: “We were impressed by that session, but with such a young guy, you start thinking: ‘He looks impressive, but he is not under pressure.’ Then we started wintertesting and thought to ourselves: ‘Now it’s getting serious, let’s see how well everything will be.’ After the first few days of testing during the winter, in which we never drove a lap but simulated an entire race, that was when I thought: ‘He is really impressive.’ At that time, some people were already saying: ‘You must be exaggerating.’ We really saw that he was getting very strong. Still at that point, we thought: ‘It’s only testing. We’ll see what will happens in Melbourne.”
“But Max is everytime just better and better and better. In the race is, for me, his strongest performance. During testing we already saw that, when driving he is able to feel what the car is doing and also see what is happening around him. This helps him during the race. He has the capacity to read the surroundings and to look behind as well as forward. That is something that is difficult to find in other drivers.”
When asked what negative qualities the Dutch Scuderia Toro Rosso-driver has, Pujolas answers: “We don’t see any negatives. He sometimes can be affected when we have had a session during which we have had certain issues. In Formula 1 the track conditions can change quite rapidly. Or there is a huge difference between the tyres or the sessions. You need to be prepared to accept that the conditions are what they are. Max doesn’t want to be faster than the rest. He wants to beat himself, meaning he is not easily satisfied with his own performance. That is something good. He is always trying to be faster and better.”
“The last couple of events, we changed our approach to the sessions. We build them up in a slightly different manner, which is, for me, a lot better for him. In this way he can be better in qualifying and even better in the race”, says Pujolar.
In the team itself, there is a calm and relaxed atmosphere. “That’s how Max is. He is a normal guy. We also work like this. Even if we have a strong session, we stay calm and say: “It’s ok, but we need to do better.’ Sometimes we have a session that is not so strong. Then you need to stay calm. ‘We need to find a solution. What went wrong?’ The next day we need to find a solution. Working like this, is for us the best way.”
When asked how good Max really is, Pujolar says in conclusion: “I think that everyone realizes how strong and good he really is. We still haven’t seen everything yet, it’s still early. He keeps pushing himself constantly and also keeps his feet on the ground. I think that if he keeps going like this, he has a big future ahead of him.”
