Jos after P9 in Mexico: "Maximum result"

Published on 01 November 2015 by Stefan Meens

"I don’t think the safety car helped Max. But because of an overheating engine a higher classification wouldn't have been possible”, summarized Jos Verstappen his son Max' Mexican Grand Prix on Dutch TV channel Sport1. “The initial strategy was to do only one stop, but the safety car forced us to do another one.”

In the closing stages, Max was forced to take it easy. Jos: “Max had to lift off because everything was overheating: the engine temperature and everything connected to it, was getting too high. That's why Max had to drop off at the end of straights to improve his cooling. In the final laps he was allowed to race flat out and he instantly lapped a second per lap quicker. Max had to bring the car home so he made the most of it.”

Max started the race on the softer compound. He switched to the medium Pirellis at his first pit stop before returning to softs during the safety car phase. “Max said the car felt better on softs so with eighteen laps to go that tyre would easily last. So I think that was a good call by the team.”

In a fight with local hero Sergio Perez, Max missed his braking point enabling the Mexican to pass the Toro Rosso. However, because of the safety car and pit stops, the mistake did not affect the Dutchman's finishing position. Jos: “Max was constantly lifting to cool the car. It means you have to be a bit more careful under braking. That's probably what it was. But we'll forgive a small mistake like that.”

The penultimate Grand Prix will take place at Interlagos, Brazil, in a fortnight. “That's a great track, I always liked going there. But the long uphill straight will be tough for us. We'll give it our best shot and try to score more points than Lotus. That's our goal for the remainder of the year.”