Max clear on Halo: "I don't like it"

Published on 27 July 2017 by Stefan Meens

On the Thursday of the Hungarian GP, Max Verstappen was one of the six drivers invited to the FIA press conference.

Max is hoping to build on a solid fifth place at Silverstone. His team boss Christian Horner said this week that in adversity, you’re becoming a better driver. Max: “It’s nice to hear. No I think it’s always the target to improve every single year so I think I definitely improved again compared to last year but it’s a bit difficult to… or it was difficult to show, of course, when you retire but luckily in Silverstone I had no issues but we still need to be honest to ourselves and now there was an issue on the other car, so we still need to be more reliable I think. We’ll start here in Hungary and see how it goes.”

Regarding his chances at the Hungaroring, Max is realistic: "We have to wait and see how our upgrades work out. We hope to be close but the other teams are working hard too. We seemed to be going into the wrong direction at Silverstone, but the race before that we gained so hopefully we can work from that. Generally speaking we should be better here as it’s a less power orientated track. Hopefully we’ll find a good balance. Because if things happen in Hungary, we have a good chance.”

The biggest talking point of the weekend is the introduction of the Halo for the 2018 season. Max’s opinion on the device is clear: “I don’t like it but of course at the end of the day you have to respect the decision of the FIA. I think since we introduced the Virtual Safety Car, that reduced a lot of risk when you are speeding under the yellow flag in the race and then also with the wheel tethers, they are quite strong at the moment so I don't think you will lose a wheel very easily, and when there are parts flying around from the car, it’s not really going to protect you. So, I don’t really understand why we should need it.”

Will the Halo change the Dutchman’s driving style? “The visibility isn’t great. I don’t like it on my car; it takes away the excitement.” Asked if the Halo means the drivers will take more risks than they are now, Max is resolute: “If drivers were to take more risks, than they’re not doing a good job at the moment.”

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