Jos: "Max has that extra capacity"
Published on 20 October 2015 by Stefan Meens
Besides “the next big thing” Max Verstappen, father Jos was also present at Exact Live. Since Max’ spectacular rise into Formula 1, Jos plays and important role in the youngster’s life albeit from the side lines. “I do a bit of everything really”, explains Jos. “I’m always there for him if he has questions and we talk about a lot of different things.”
“With my experience I notice what happens within the team. So when necessary, I’ll nudge Max into a certain direction or give him advice, especially if it concerns off track matter. But we also talk about certain corners, curbstones or overtakes. Like the one at Spa-Francorchamps, where he passed Nasr on the outside. Of course, it was a beautiful move, but not entirely without danger with 300km/h. Max cannot think that will work every time.”
Like Max, Jos was renowned to race without fear. Does that ever worry him? “When I raced myself, I would sometimes think about it but you know you’re the one in control. Now Max is racing I occasionally think about again, especially on tracks where there’s more danger. Look at Sochi, not exactly risk free if you look at the accidents there. I sometimes worry, but Max is so keen to race so I hope nothing happens to him.”
As driver who spent almost a decade in Grand Prix racing, Jos knows the difference between a good driver and the truly great driver. “It’s starts with talent and car feel. That covers everything: how to apply the brakes, accelerator, how to describe the car’s handling, working with an engineer and a team, tyre management, you name it. All these small things put together make a huge difference.”
"For example, it’s incredibly hard to drive within the ideal tyre temperature. If the brake balance is too far to the rear, the rear tyres will lock resulting in the tyre temperature rising. This means you’ll lose traction when accelerating. However, if you’re four degrees below the optimum temperature, you lose grip as well. So it’s incredibly difficult to find and keep that balance. A great driver will be able to find and keep that balance a bit easier.”
Racing in Formula 1 has moved on from just putting in fast lap after fast lap. “Max adjusts settings on his steering wheel four or five times per lap to maximize the performance from his engine.” Jos uses Max’ overtake on team mate Sainz in Suzuka as an example. “After that fast turn leading to the chicane, the car ‘clips’, which means it will hover around the same speed to save energy."
Jos continues: “After that turn, Max changed the settings which meant the car kept accelarting instead of mainting the same speed. That’s why it looked so easy when he passed Sainz. Max had already thought about this himself before he was positioned behind Sainz. That’s an extra skill that Max has. He thinks about these things well in advance. That is talent. People say that Max has that extra capacity to think about these things during the race.”
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