Jos is certain: 'It's going to be an incredibly thrilling year'

Published on 03 April 2021 by Niels Hendrix

This week the Formula 1 Café featured Jos Verstappen, the show airs during the Formula 1 season every Friday evening at 22:30 on Ziggo, where he chatted with Robert Doornbos en Rob Kamphues.

During the program they of course looked back at the first Grand Prix of the year, Bahrain, where Max had to yield narrowly to seven time world champion, Lewis Hamilton. The duo fought a bitter battle for the victory.

“It was such a bummer,” Jos starts. “We had the car to win, everyone saw that. It’s just that strategically Mercedes did an excellent job in Bahrain. Everyone, including us, assumed Hamilton would opt for the three-stop strategy. If you are in second place, you can take the risk of going for a longer third stint. If you don’t, you know for sure you’ll come in second. And should you fail, you’re still second, Bottas couldn’t keep up and Perez wasn’t behind as defense.”

Jos is optimistic though: “The good thing this year is that we know that we can fight again for first place in the next race. We haven’t been in this position these last few years.” Jos isn’t afraid that Mercedes will catch up in the next three weeks: “We’re not sleeping on the job either. We are awake too and I know what’s coming up regarding development. “We’re ready for it. It’s going to be an incredibly thrilling year. I’m sure of it.”