Max motivated in Singapore: "The target is a podium or more!"

Published on 14 September 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen is ready for the challenge the Singapore Grand Prix poses: “It’s warm, physically tough and a tricky track with a lot of corners. So it’s in interesting track. You need guts, focus and fitness so it’s very demanding.”

The Dutchman made sure he is prepared for the challenging conditions: “The past few months I spend a lot of time in the sauna and trained in hot conditions by putting on warm clothes to really work up a sweat! But as soon as you get in the car, it’s still going to be really warm.”

Another factor for the Singapore GP is that it is a night race, driven under artificial lights. “It’s not too bad. The first time I drove here it took a few laps to get used to it because some parts of the tracks are a bit darker. But it’s almost the same as driving in daylight.”

Max is not the only one well prepared. His team, Red Bull Racing, has brought several updates. “The car has more downforce and we’re using an improved fuel mixture that will give us a bit more power. All year, we’ve had updates, but here in Singapore they’re all a little bit bigger than the usual updates.”

“Our last races were good, despite them being on tracks that don’t suit our car. At Monza we raced with very low downforce which showed in the corners. But here in Singapore, there aren’t many straights so we can drive with a lot of downforce. It could become a positive weekend.”

Despite Max’s confidence, the youngster remains realistic. “We have a good opportunity to do well here, but I’m not sure if we can go for the win. However, we can definitely annoy the two top teams. The target is a podium and hopefully more!”

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