Max: “RB13 looks aggressive and cool, hopefully it will be fast”
Published on 25 February 2017 by Niels Hendrix
Ahead of the RB13 running for the first time in Barcelona next week, we caught up with Max Verstappen to hear his views on the regulation changes, his goals for the 2017 season and the benefits of having a strong teammate.
What are your goals for 2017?
“First I want to see how competitive the car is and then I can be more precise on my goals. Of course I always want to win races, but you need to have the right equipment for that as well.”
Can you carry the momentum on from 2016?
“You just start from zero again. It’s a completely different car, so hopefully we did build a very competitive car. We still have to wait and see. I’m very confident that Red Bull can do a very good job as they have shown in the previous years.”
How is the mood in the team?
“The mood is always very good, very positive, that is very nice to see in the team. Everybody is getting very excited to see the new car and hopefully it will perform well. Everybody is really looking forward to it.”
What about the new regulations?
“Hopefully it mixes up the grid a bit more, that is always good for F1 in general and hopefully for us as well. From there on hopefully closer racing and less degradation from the tyres when you’re behind someone, so you can push harder for a few more laps. I’m just looking forward to that.”
Explain the new regulations…
“The biggest changes are of course the tyres and the general downforce on the car, which is quite a lot more, up to 20-30%. So it’s a lot tougher for us drivers to drive around the track. Lap time wise we will be around three seconds faster on some tracks, so that’s quite a big step. Normally from one to another season, when there are not many changes, maybe you gain half a second. The car will get a bit heavier and the look of the car is also a bit different with the rear wing: a lot lower and wider. And the front wing is in a V-shape. Hopefully that makes it easier to drive closely behind each other. A bit more fuel as well. But the biggest changes come from the tyres and the general downforce from the car.”
Will the cars be harder to drive?
“I think it will be quite a lot more physical on your neck, because the cornering speeds are quite a lot higher, up to 20-30km/h in a corner. We did quite a lot of training to get prepared, hopefully it’s enough, you never know for sure. The first two test weeks you’ll feel a bit sore. Because you can train whatever you want, you can get a lot stronger, but the first time you jump in a car, you just get a stiff neck. So you just have to deal with it, but hopefully for the rest of the season it will be good enough.”
How’s the RB13 looking?
“The car looks very aggressive and hopefully when it looks that aggressive and cool, it will be fast. I think the cars look a lot better than they’ve done the last three years.”
Superstitious about the RB13?
“No, for me the number doesn’t matter. There are some championships won, by other constructors, with number thirteen in it, so it’s all right.”
Why is pre-season training important?
“The training is very important. The forces you get on your neck and upper body, and even your legs for braking, are quite big. We haven’t driven it yet so it’s still a bit of a dark area. But it will be though. That’s why we’ve been training a lot our necks, but also the general upper body which has to be cope with the forces as well.”
What about your teammate?
“It’s always positive to have a very strong teammate because you develop yourself really well, you are always on top of yourself, you always try to push yourself to the limits. I’m of course really happy to have Daniel as a teammate. We always try to push each other and at the end of the day that is very good for the team.”
What do you want to achieve at the first test in Barcelona?
“Mileage first of all and to get back in a rhythm. Try some things on the car, see which way we want to go with the car in terms of set-up. I think that’s the most important in testing. Also, to test different items on the car, just to see what they do, so you know in which direction to go when you have a certain problem.”
What do you hope will happen in Melbourne?
“Oh dear! Difficult to say, but hopefully we have a good start from the race and basically lead the whole race, and it will be very boring race! That would be perfect”, ends Max with a big smile
