Max takes a dominant win at the Zandvoort Masters
Published on 06 July 2014 by Stefan Meens
21 years after Jos Verstappen won the Zandvoort Masters, his son Max emulates senior with a dominant victory at the 2014 edition of the prestigious Formula 3 event. After starting from pole position, for a moment it appeared Max would lose the lead in the first corner to Sam MacLeod. However, the 16-year-old Dutchman held on to P1 and comfortably finished in first with a six second lead over runner-up Jules Szymkowiak. Steijn Schothorst completes the podium.
Max: “To win the Zandvoort Masters is amazing, I’m ecstatic! To cross the finish line in first and see everyone cheer you on is fantastic. It was a great race and the car was fast.”
As the drivers lined up on the grid, a heavy shower forces the teams to have the wet weather tyres ready. However, the rain stops after a few minutes and all the drivers begin the race on slicks.
As the lights go out, Max has a good start but Sam MacLeod manages to get along side in the run to the first turn, the famous Tarzan corner. Max keeps the lead by braking extremely late while MacLeod touches Szymkowiak and the Britton loses his car and ends his race in the gravel.
“Because I don’t have a lot of experience driving this particular type of F3-car and this specific clutch, it wasn’t easy to get off the line but I still managed a decent start. I hung on to the lead even though it was a bit close as we approached the Tarzan. After that, I was careful in the first few laps as the track was still drying up after the short rain shower”, explains Max.
In the opening stages of the race, Max is putting in terrific lap times and manages a four second lead within three laps. It is a gap the young Dutchman maintains throughout the race. However, in the last three laps, Max ramps up the pace to take a sovereign win with an impressive six second lead.
“During the race I took care of my tyres and I tried to maintain a gap of about four second. This meant I had better tyres than Szymkowiak and I was able to pick up the pace in the last couple of laps and extend my lead.”
Post-race, Szymkowiak was given a twenty second penalty for the collision with MacLeod. This means the Dutchman drops to fifth place, moving Schothorst into second and Nabil Jeffri into third. As the penalty was rewarded after the race, Szymkowiak joined Verstappen junior on the podium.
Similar to his father Jos, Max was given the Dutch flag on his victory lap. This produced some stunning footage reminiscent of Jos’ famous 1993 victory at the circuit in the dunes. “Yes, I did know that there would be a flag ready along the track if I would take the win. I was laughing in the car as I could see the flag track side a few laps before the finish”, smiles a delighted Max.
“When I decided to drive Formula 3 this year, I dreamed of winning the Zandvoort Masters so I’m so pleased with this win.”
Apart from the victory being a glorious moment for the Verstapppen family, the win was also special for Volkswagen and Team Motopark as both had never won the Masters before. “Volkwagen did a terrific job with the engine and Team Motopark gave me a wonderful car to go and race with so I want to thank them both as without them, I couldn’t have done it”, concludes the youngest ever winner of the Masters.
Zandvoort Masters of Formula 3 – Zandvoort – Day 3, Saturday July 6:
Results race
