Max at the FIA-press conference: “It will keep getting better”

Published on 25 May 2016 by Mike Motilall

For the second time in a row, Max Verstappen has been invited for the FIA-press conference, together with five other drivers. First time round, he got all the attention being the new Red Bull Racing-driver, this time, he was in the spotlights for having won his first Grand Prix in Barcelona.

“It was pretty crazy in Holland. To be the first Dutch Grand Prix winner is very special and I can call myself now the youngest and the oldest. At least something I’m the oldest in”, 18-year-old Max funnily replied.

Did you have any special preparation for the race you won in Spain? “To be honest, I didn’t expect to win, so I didn’t have any special preparation, I just put my helmet on and jumped in the car. Suddenly I was leading the race. From there on you just try to do the best you can, with the experiences you have from the past. The car was performing well and we had some good traction out of the last chicane, which was our strong point. I was trying to get a good exit every time, that was what gave me the race win.”

As Red Bull Racing relayed today, Daniel Ricciardo will be driving with the new Tag Heuer power unit in Monaco. Max will have that to his disposal as well in Canada. “I think the new power unit is a very positive step forward. I felt very comfortable with it during testing. It is very positive that we gained so much time with it, because it’s harder to find those tenths in the car. I’m looking forward to being able to use the new power unit in Canada.”

Asked about increase of pressure, Max replies: “I think every driver has pressure, but I turn it into positive pressure. As long as you’re enjoying yourself and you feel happy, those are the things, I think, that are most important to have success. In the end I always try to do my best and I think that is what takes away a lot of pressure as well.”

How will you go about the race weekend in Monaco? “I’m going to approach it in the same way as in Barcelona and we’ll see where that ends up. At the moment, Mercedes still looks very strong, but we’ll try to find a really good setup for the car and try to get very comfortable on this track also. In the end that’s very important if you want to go fast. We’ll see how we end up.”

Do you think that you are faster than your team mate Ricciardo? “As a driver you always feel that you are the faster one. Daniel is a great driver, you can clearly see that. From my side, I’m still getting used to the car, even in the Spanish race I was still getting used to the car, because it was my first race in it. In the test, after the race, again I learned some very important things about the car. Like how to get it better for me in qualifying. It is a process and will start to get better, even here in Monaco I will learn again. It will take a few races before you are fully comfortable with all the systems.”

On Monaco’s winding street circuit, Pirelli will bring out the ultra soft tyres again. “It’s good to go a bit more aggressive on the tyre choice. Especially here in Monaco. I think last year the softs were just too hard. So I’m looking forward to having a bit more grip. I don’t think there will be a big gap between the super soft and ultra soft. We’ll see in the race”, Max concludes.

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