Max: "Confident we can close the gap"

Published on 06 April 2017 by Stefan Meens

Prior to the Chinese Grand Prix, the second race of the 2017 Formula 1 season, Max Verstappen joined Thursday’s FIA press conference. The Red Bull Racing ace joined championship leader Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg to chat about the gab to Mercedes and Ferrari, the new regulations and on how to involve the fans.

After a fifth place in Melbourne, Max explains his team’s focus: “The atmosphere in the team is pretty much the same. For sure we have to improve, but that’s how it is at the moment. We are definitely working hard to get new parts on the car as soon as we can and trying to get the pace up a bit to be closer to the top two teams. Behind us is quite a big gap. I could have done two pit stops in Melbourne and still had the same position. We’ll see how it goes on a normal race track here in Shanghai.”

Asked when Red Bull expect to have closed the gap to the front runners, Max is realistic: “It’s a bit difficult to say. It’s quite a big gap, but I’m confident that we can close it in the upcoming races to be within a second. Then we’ll see when we get the bigger upgrades, also for the engine.”

“We can improve the general balance. In qualifying everything felt pretty good, but it’s just that we need more load, a bit more grip, more power. It’s a bit of both. You try to make an efficient car on the straights to make up for the loss of power there. Now we just have to focus on getting the car in the right window. Then we’ll hopefully get the right upgrades from the engine side as well.”

With the new regulations giving the cars more overall grip and higher corner speeds, the drivers had to train hard over the winter to get their bodies ready for racing the new generation of cars. Max feels he has adapted well. “It was actually alright. I trained quite a bit more in the offseason period. For me it felt pretty similar to last year. I’m still getting older and stronger just by myself, so it was alright. I didn’t have a drink bottle as well, but it was all good.”

Post Australia, a lot of talk centered around the lack of overtaking in Melbourne. “In general, in Melbourne it’s always a bit harder to overtake. It’s just the nature of the track. Last year there was quite a lot of action in China, so I expect it’s a bit better to overtake here. It won’t be the same like last year, just because the cars are going faster trough the corners and we have less tyre degradation. It will be a bit more difficult, but I wouldn’t say it will be like Melbourne.”

Formula 1 is a sport with many fans worldwide, but is facing a drop in TV audiences. Does the sport need to listen to the fans’ demands? “I think it’s always good to get different opinions. It’s a good thing to also listen to the fans.”

“One thing I miss a bit is the engine noise. When you were a little kid, standing next to the track, even when they were not going 350km/h but 310 or 320 it was still something magical when they passed. Now we’re going really quick, but on the straight it doesn’t look as quick as a few years ago when you still had the engine noise. It makes a big impression to the fans as well. Also, there needs to be a bit more action in terms of overtaking. As soon as you get that back into the sport, it doesn’t matter how fast the cars are around a lap. The engine noise does more for the fan experience than having a car which is three seconds faster.”

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