Jos on Max' Vegas victory: 'He was a little bit angry'

Published on 19 November 2023 by Stefan Meens

A delighted Jos Verstappen watched his son Max win an enthralling Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Dutchman reflected on an entertaining race. “It was an exciting one”, said Jos after attending the podium ceremony. "Because of the long straights, there was a lot of overtaking which made it a fun race to watch.”

Starting from second on the grid, Max enjoyed a good launch off the line and outbraked polesitter Charles Leclerc into turn one. Because of the low grip, both drivers went off track, resulting in a five second time penalty for Max. “I could see he wasn’t too happy with that penalty. I could see in his driving style that he was a little bit angry”, said Jos.

Later on in the race, Max successfully pulled of a daring overtake on George Russell. The Mercedes driver did not expect the overtake and turned into the Red Bull, resulting in a broken wheel cap for Russell and a broken wing end plate on the RB19.

“Although a bit came off, the car didn’t have any damage and thankfully Max’ front win didn’t need changed”, explained Jos who also praised Max’ tyre management. “He was happy on the hard tyres, which he managed really well after experiencing graining on the mediums on the first stint. The graining means you can’t turn in as well and it takes longer before you can go on the throttle, so that’s why he was called in for a pit stop. But in the end, he had a great time racing in Las Vegas."