Max on spin in Australia: “On lap five a rear part broke off”
Published on 26 March 2018 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen finished sixth fastest yesterday at the Australian Grand Prix. In Ziggo Sport’s Peptalk, the Dutchman looks back at the first race of the season.
Verstappen explains the problem regarding the balance during the race, which was already an issue during the opening stages of the race: “Together with the team we looked at what exactly the problem was, because I was complaining after four or five laps already about problems at the rear of the car. They saw during the pit stop that there was some damage. Later it would appear that on lap five in Turn four something had broken off from the rear end.”
How the damage came about, remains unanswered for now: “The team cannot explain why, because it wasn’t caused by a kerbstone. It did give me a lot of understeer though, causing me to not being able to properly gauge how to enter the corner. Subsequently the car spun. The previous laps I was almost slipping off track a few times. Even after the spin, I had a few moments again but they were not televised. I could have parked the car in the wall some four to five times already.”
Verstappen also explains what exactly came off: “At the bottom of the car there are certain guides to channel the airflow. They produce a lot of downforce. One large fin of that part had come off.”
How does the Dutchman look back at the race and at the weekend in general? “It was not the best race ever, but those things just happen. We’re just continuing on to Bahrain.” Regarding the RB14, Verstappen has no doubts whatsoever: “We have a car that performs well and that gives me confidence. If you look at the raw pace, everything just looks positive. I don’t think it is enough to take it to Mercedes in the race, but we can certainly challenge Ferrari.”
The race in Australia was not the most thrilling regarding overtaking on the track. How does Max see this? “It's a pity. The track was of course reasonably extreme, which made overtaking difficult, but compared to 2015 or 2016 it was less exciting.” Changing the rules is not an easy feat: “You cannot change these immediately, because the teams don’t agree with it. It costs a lot of course and even then it takes about two to three years before you even get close to other regulations. So that will take some time.”
Despite that, the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-driver expects more action during the other races to come: “There will be races where there will be more action. For sure in Bahrain and China because you are able to overtake there. The last race was one of the worst regarding the possibilities to overtake.”
Before Max heads off to Bahrain, he plans on staying down under a while in Australia: “We are off for a week doing some fun stuff and also some training. Then it’s off to Bahrain!”
