Franz Tost labelles Max as 'extraordinary'

Published on 21 May 2015 by Niels Hendrix

Scuderia Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost has labelled Max Verstappen's performance in the Monaco Grand Prix so far as "extraordinary". The 17-year-old rookie finished in second place in the opening practice session, behind reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, despite it being his first time driving around the Monte Carlo circuit. Max completed a strong day with the seventh fastest time in the second free practice.

Tost: “We all know that Max is very high-skilled driver, therefore Red Bull took him into the programme and bought him into Toro Rosso. I was impressed how he achieved this really, really good time in free practice 1. He went out in the morning and from run to run he improved his lap time without making any mistake. No locking, nothing. His car control and his feedback during the run was really extraordinary. I’m really happy he is in the team and I’m convinced he will show some other great runs. Hopefully in qualifying, because this counts and also in the race. I think that we will have some success with Max also this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him – earlier or later – within the first five.”

Even a podium finish isn’t ruled out. “That depends how many cars not finishing in front of us. The smaller the number of finishers, the better the chance Max will be on the podium. We must be realistic. There are teams and cars in front of us with double of the budget than us. They have fantastic competitive package and it’s not easy to compete against them. But nevertheless we have two drivers and also a car which is quite competitive and once – maybe special whether conditions, maybe it’s raining or whatever – will help us to bring one of the drivers to the podium.”