Max: “Need to seize the moment in the first races”
Published on 19 February 2016 by Mike Motilall
If you think that Max Verstappen has been idling these few days, in the run up to the tests, prior to the Formula 1-season, you are quite mistaken. The previous week saw the Scuderia Toro Rosso-driver pay a visit to Italy, Switzerland and the UK. This week, his training schedule was interrupted for photo- and filming-shoots in London and Maastricht. Coming Monday, February 22nd, the new STR11 will be put to the test for the first time on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The following day, Max will take over control.
“I am looking forward to getting in the new car. Tensed is something I am not”, says Max. “During the tests, we gradually build things up. These coming days in Barcelona are meant to get to know the car better, test the new engine and to see how it all fares. I am well prepared for my second campaign. Physically I am stronger, I know the tracks and the team has also progressed. It all looks very positive, but it is still a waiting game what the results are going to be.”
Could the new Toro Rosso even be quicker than it’s bigger brother from Red Bull Racing? “Normally, Red Bull should be ahead of us. Red Bull still has one of the best cars: for sure, at the end of last year, they were quicker than we were, so I think that they are still capable of being fast again. But it is hard to say because they have a different package and also a different engine.”
What will your attitude be, when heading down to Melbourne for the first Grand Prix? “Our aim is to make it through to the third part of qualifying and grab some points. Hopefully more than one. But we will have to wait and see how strong the other teams are.”
In the STR11, there is a 2015-spec Ferrari driving unit. Should it be at the back of our mind that Toro Rosso is likely to get overtaken during the season? “That is a possibility, I guess. We have an engine that is not developed any further as oppose to most of the teams that have developed theirs. It’s a pity, but we certainly need to seize every moment we can in the first couple of races. The team knows that also, so we are working hard to make that possible.”
Last year, Max acquired, for different reasons, ‘penalty points’. However, this leaves him quite unaffected. “To have that many, I think is quite strange. But I will not race less hard or differently. I have never even pondered about doing that. I’ll just floor it”, as Max concludes like a natural born racer should.
