Max in Peptalk: “You win together, you lose together”
Published on 07 September 2016 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen was present Monday evening at the first live broadcast of a new season of Peptalk on Ziggo Sport. He was joined by Formula 1-commentator Olav Mol and two-time Olympic champion windsurfing Dorian van Rijsselberghe, as well as the regular host Jack van Gelder, sidekick Frank Evenblij and retired football player Willem van Hanegem. Max spoke freely about the somewhat disappointing races in Spa and Monza, his rocket propelled advance in Formula 1 and there was also a preview on Singapore.
Firstly, the start at Monza. What exactly happened?
The start was not flawless. I released the clutch, the revs dropped too much because the team had set it to a somewhat too aggressive mode. As oppose to a regular car, that just stops running, the anti-stall kicked in. I had to engage the clutch back again and then you lose a lot of time.
Do you hold the team responsible, are there jobs on the line?
“No, you win together and you lose together. Those things happen. Everyone does their best and everyone is allowed to make mistakes. If you are going to penalize every mistake as the team principal, everyone will be afraid to make a mistake and nobody will be doing their utmost again.”
Does the start get analyzed after the race?
“Yes, most certainly, everyone saw what went wrong. To me, I didn’t do anything wrong, but the team was able to explain to me what exactly went wrong.”
Are you aware that there is a different sentiment towards a race after your Spanish victory due to higher expectations?
“Yes of course. When you win your first race for Red Bull Racing, everyone then obviously expects you to win every time. But that’s not the case of course. It is all so closely knit and we also had a bit of luck in Barcelona. At this moment we are not the strongest team, that’s just how it is. We are always between the first and seventh place. The others are not resting on their laurels either.”
Are you annoyed then if Ricciardo is ahead of you?
“In the end not really, so many things went wrong at Monza at the start. You are not able to follow the others anymore and on a track where you don’t need to brake that much you cannot close a gap of 10 seconds. After the start you’re busy fixing everything that went wrong. At first you think that it’s a pity that you didn’t have a good start off the line, but then you need to focus on not making any mistakes in the first corner. If you make it through unscathed, then you can go on the attack again.”
You did have a nice overtake on Perez didn’t you?
“The move on Perez was not even my best one, they didn’t even show the coolest one. In the last Lesmo I was behind of Hulkenberg. It is a corner where you normally cannot overtake, but I just did it. I thought that was just neat. You see, the move on Perez was also a good one, but overtaking there is a bit easier.”
Also Max’ football moves, having played a charity match the previous weekend at Monza, are discussed in the interview. “I already sent the video to Manchester United”, says the Red Bull Racing-driver jokingly. “It was lots of fun. The day after however, I quite felt it but it’s part of the fun.”
At first you were a young rookie. By now you are known across the globe and are well established in the grown up world. Is that noticeable? Are you getting judged more critically?
“For me nothing changes, I just do what I always do. Regarding certain moves, I do get looked at more critically but they just will have to get used to that.”
In the interview at the end of the race at Spa it was very clear that there was still a lot of adrenaline in your system. How was that? Would you have said the same afterwards?
“That is difficult to say in retrospect. You start second, there are some 60.000 people there to see you and after 100 meter it’s all over, while there was nothing you could have done about it. Of course, you have a poor start, they all pass you by and then you go for a gap, and there was enough space. They turn in and eventually break your front wing and subsequently the entire car because the front wing got under my tyres. Meaning your entire race is over and you still have an hour-and-a-half to go.”
Did you speak to Kimi after the race and what do you think of your defensive moves yourself?
“I didn’t see Kimi after the race, but then again, you don’t really feel like to. In Italy we wanted to have a talk but there was just no time. We did see Race Director Charlie Whiting and were able to tell our sides of the story. Regarding the moves: you know what you can do and what you can’t. I think that sometimes there are too many rules. If I was Kimi, I would have said the same on the radio. You always try to benefit from it yourself. Of course it was an aggressive move, but you’re trying to defend your position aren’t you.”
The next race is in Singapore. What’s it like to drive in the dark there?
“It is beautiful there and also very stifling. The darkness is not a problem; there is adequate light beside the track. You just change your visor and it’s not a problem anymore.”
Is it a track for you?
“I feel fine on any circuit. But it has more to do with the car. Our car is good at cornering because we have a lot of downforce. The engine will get an upgrade and there are fewer straights like at Monza, where we normally fall short. So in Singapore we should be able to do well.”
Last year there was the incident on the radio in Singapore. Much has happened in just one year. When you look back, hasn’t it all gone very fast for you?
“Yes, I do think so. But even that you cannot control. I always do my best. It has gone faster than I expected to, but I cannot complain on how it has gone.”
Do things around you change much in such a year?
“Well, not extremely. You get to go to another team, and even there I felt quite at ease very quickly. They have a good sense of humour there, because you also need to be able to laugh. It feels very familiar. They have won the worldchampionship four times, so they really know what they are doing.”
Finally: Do you have time for yourself?
“I am myself when I am in the car. I think that’s the best thing there is. Once I am in the car, I really come to life.”
