Max previews Malaysia and Japan: “Beautiful and special”

Published on 23 September 2016 by Niels Hendrix

Next up is the Malaysian Grand Prix. Next week Max Verstappen travels to the Asian country. The Dutchman tells: “Malaysia is very humid and very hot, a bit like Singapore. I like the Sepang circuit, it’s pretty cool. It has a nice combination of fast corners at turn 5 and 6 and good overtaking opportunities at turn 9. The weather can vary quite a bit as well. We can get some pretty big storms, but then the track can dry up very quickly because of the high temperature. Last year I did a bit of sightseeing while I was there, and Malaysia seems like a very beautiful country. I really enjoyed it.”

Verstappen continues: “After Malaysia we go to Japan and I will spend a couple of days in Tokyo before heading to the track, which will be nice. Japan will always be a special place for me because I made my F1 debut there during Friday practice. Suzuka is a really cool track as well, especially sector 1, it’s very fast and that’s what drivers enjoy. There is not much run off either, so you have to be very precise; it’s a proper old-school track, very challenging and demanding.

“Japan has some of the most passionate fans, they’re very sweet and the support we get from them is really nice. They give us all kinds of gifts as well, which they put a lot of effort into. I really enjoy Japan and it’s always good to go back there.”