Max at Barcelona test: "The RB14 is a good step forward"
Published on 27 February 2018 by Stefan Meens
Whilst Daniel Ricciardo drove the RB14, Red Bull Racing’s latest F1 racer, Verstappen.nl caught up with Max Verstappen in the team’s hospitality unit to preview the 2018 Formula 1 season.
Max, it’s been a long winter. Did you have a good time off?
“I’ve been keeping busy with training, especially from January onwards. Apart from that, I haven’t done that much. I did pass my motorcycle license. It comes in pretty handy when living in Monaco, especially with the nice weather."
After a special camouflage livery, when the RB14 was revealed, the car is now sporting its racing livery during the test. Do you like it?
“I prefer the race version. I saw the camo one up close at our shakedown at Silverstone, but I think the originality of that one will wear off quickly. And I like the one we have anyway. As long as the car is fast!"
You’ve drive the RB14 in the simulator. What’s your first impressions?
The team has to get the wind tunnel data corresponding with the simulator so it’s difficult to say how it will feel on track, but thus far it felt good. We haven’t encountered any major issues.”
“Last year it was much harder to predict because it was a completely new car with new regulations. You might think you’re fast, but you can’t tell if it’s fast enough. This year we have last year’s car as a reference and I think we’ve made a good step forward with the RB14.”
This year, the halo is a mandatory safety device in Formula 1. Did you test it in the simulator?
“Yes we did. You sort of have to look around it a bit and there’s a bit of a blur in the middle. It’s not ideal and we’ll have to see how it impacts the driver when is dark, like in Singapore and Bahrain, or if there are undulations."
Can you describe the feeling of driving a new car out of the pits for the first time?
“It’s all about building up the speed nicely. You can’t go flat-out straight away. There are so many things to test; you slowly pick up the pace as the test goes on. I don’t think this year’s car will feel to different to last year though.”
How quickly do you know if the car is good or bad?
“Usually you know within a day if the car has good or bad balance."
How much of an influence on the new car have you had?
“Obviously I feed back about the problems we had last year, in the hope we can solve them this year. But it’s the designers who come up with solutions. I just tell them where the flaws are and the areas where I feel we need to improve. It’s things like too much understeer or too much oversteer on certain tracks."
Is Barcelona the best track for pre-season testing?
“If the weather is good and it’s warm, yes. But if it's this cold, it's not good. It’s really difficult to get the tyres to work. Additionally, there’s a new track surface so there isn’t much tyre degradation.”
“Last year the weather was better, but now it’s really cold. However, because it’s cooler, it’s not as tough on the engine.”
On which circuit would you like to take a win the most?
“Spa-Francorchamps, Singapore and Monaco. The latter two because it’s all about getting qualifying right. If you do well in quali, those races should come your way. Also, it’s great to win on awesome street tracks. I would love to win in Spa because it’s my favorite track and of course it would be in front of a home crowd. So far, it hasn’t worked out for me there, but who know what happens this year!”
