Winning the first world title of his career on the night of Abu Dhabi and granting an interview, next to his father, the following morning: this is the ‘program’ he managed to respect Max Verstappen together with dad Jos, protagonists of a long interview conducted by David Coulthard for CarNext, and today present entirely on Youtube. The Red Bull Dutchman retraced some steps in his career, focusing in particular on the most important moments of the season just ended with the addition of a comment by Jos Verstappen, also an F1 driver at the turn of the years’ 90 and 2000.
The latter, who has a completely different palmarès than the one his son already boasts, thus answered the questions of the former Scottish colleague: “Max started karting when he was 4 years old – has explained – and he was already watching the races in which you and I were engaged. Somewhere I still have pictures of him from that time, and to see where he is now is incredible, and I’m so proud. It is exciting to see your child win. In Abu Dhabi I never expected him to attack at Turn 5. I asked myself ‘why them?‘, mainly due to the fact that there were still two straights after the corner. It was there that I expected the overtaking, as many thought many other people. Over the course of the season it was unlucky, but in the last race you could never have imagined such an ending, not even in a movie. When I was sitting across from Max once the race was over it was great to see Anthony Hamilton who congratulated him. I’ve had a few conversations with Anthony on WhatsApp over the year. The Hamiltonians have already won 7 world championships, everything is different for us, but he was very respectful. Before Latifi’s accident I had left the station to go and see the times on the monitor, because I thought it would not go the right way and I did not want to be caught by the cameras. Then when there was the accident with 5 laps to go, hope returned, and I wanted the Williams to be removed as quickly as possible. At that point the race resumed, the cars doubled as usual and there was only one lap left. Everyone who knows Max knew he would try any way he could, and we were wondering where he would attack. Nobody expected at Turn 5, with two straights still to be tackled. After Lewis joined Turn 9 I started to cry, I was nervous and all the emotions emerged in one fell swoop. Everything that happened during the season made the emotions even more intense. It’s hard to pinpoint a moment I’m particularly proud of him, but when I see him attacking in Q3, in the way he drives, it’s incredible. It was like this in Jeddah, as well as in Abu Dhabi. I never intervene in team matters – he added – or to provide him with technical advice. Moreover, the cars of today are completely different from the ones we drove in our time. I enjoy hearing speeches, but I don’t interfere in any way. Sometimes I talk to Max’s track engineers, but only out of personal curiosity. Returning instead to Silverstone, when you see an accident like that you don’t think about anything other than his health condition. I immediately went to the medical center to see how he was doing. As a father it was not nice to spend those moments, as well as I couldn’t accept the celebration after what happened. After the crash, I was worried that the impact might have affected his riding, but when I saw him push further I knew it was all right. When I see it – he concluded – I realize that he is much older than I was at his age; it is also his way of running that allows him to reach these levels. Already in the minor formulas he was able to reveal some details about the guide that I did not know ”.
From father to son, here are some passages of the statements made by the new world champion, starting with the overtaking that earned him the world title: “I attacked at Turn 5 because I knew I had good top speed – he has declared – and therefore I would have been able to defend myself well. If I had been behind I would not have been able to do the maneuver I wanted, because I would have found the door closed. It has been an incredible season, a lot of unpredictable things have happened, and I think it was better to see two different teams facing each other rather than an internal challenge between teammates. Personally I always try to be neutral: Obviously it’s nice to hear positive comments about you, but I don’t rely too much on it, just as negative comments don’t bother me too much. I try to keep a certain level, especially during this season. While driving you understand when things are going the right way, but I always force myself to continue without ever giving up, to keep pushing. A bit like what happened in the last race, when things didn’t initially go for the best: there I told myself that something could also happen at the last corner of the last lap, and so I forced myself to continue. This is something that often happens to me in the race, regardless of the position in which I am. Initially it was my father who pushed and spurred me on. At the moment I have a good relationship with Fernando Alonso; already when I was racing karts I really liked his fighting style. Unfortunately it has not been able to confirm itself in recent years due to uncompetitive machines. I like the fact that she has kept her motivation even after so long and with her age. We respect each other, but I’d like to see him again in the top positions. He deserves it, not surprisingly he is a double world champion. I don’t remember a specific race in which I had a particular flop, mine or that of the team – he added – at Silverstone, for example, we had some problems with the tires in qualifying, in Hungary the same. Also in Abu Dhabi the setup of the car was not the best. While 2022 will feature completely different cars, these imperfections need to be harnessed to improve for next season. On the contrary, the two races in Austria surprised me with the car’s performance. It was not the track that was favorable to the characteristics of the car, but I don’t know why we were fast anyway. Even in Mexico it was like that, despite the altitude, and also in Austin. Silverstone did not have a concrete impact on the world championship, but it certainly wasn’t a good memory, especially for the days following the accident. I was in pain all over the place, but I also knew it could have been worse. This is why they are and we have moved on, even if in Hungary there was another accident, but that is also part of the nature of the races. In Monza the situation was not wonderful, I suffered a penalty with which I did not agree. Was a iconic accident, also because fortunately no one was hurt. With the exception of Abu Dhabi, on Dutch GP that’s where I felt the most pressure. Everyone expected me to win, especially the home fans, but overall the weekend was almost perfect. It was a great feeling, but when I crossed the line I took all the pressure off me. My goal is always to improve in all areas; I don’t focus on one in particular, but rather on small details of each sector. I like the speed of current cars and their level of grip. In 2022 – he concluded – instead they will be slower, but with the idea of having closer battles, which you would not be able to afford today due to the turbulence. The tires will have 18 inches, and therefore they will have a different behavior, and obviously I will have to adapt my driving style to these technical innovations. The level of traction outside the corners will be different, but still interesting ”.
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