Max about Austria: “Hopefully just like last year”

Published on 06 July 2017 by Mike Motilall

With four DNF’s from the last six races, Max Verstappen is determined to leave the problems behind of him and get a good result at the Austrian Grand Prix, which will be held this weekend. The Dutchman talks about the home race of his team on the Red Bull Ring: “The track is nice to try. You have long straights, hard braking zones and some fast corners. So I think it’s a good combination.”

Last year, Max Verstappen ended up on the podium, after the chaos between the Mercedes-drivers on the final lap: “It’s always nice to score a podium”, says Max. “It was the first time for Red Bull. Hopefully we can make it a second time.” Regarding his preparation for this race, Verstappen says: “I prepared myself in the simulator on Wednesday so I could get the best balance possible for the start of the weekend, and we’ll take it from there.”

Once again, the last race is looked back at. Dropping out in Baku was the second race in a row where Max Verstappen failed to reach the finish. He talks about dealing with this disappointment: “That’s actually pretty simple. You just call some friends and have some fun. You restart again the next race. It’s disappointing, but what can I do about it? I have to try and do my best every weekend and try and finish the race. This weekend I am getting a new engine because the other one was finished. Hopefully it will cure the issues. I try not to think about it too much.”

The Dutchman also talks about his decision not to talk to the press in Baku: “I was very disappointed and I know myself. When I’m that disappointed, it’s better not to talk. That’s why I didn’t go to the media, or else I might have said things that I might have regretted afterwards. Then you get all those kind of unnecessary stories.”

Where does Red Bull stand at this moment compared to Mercedes and Ferrari? “We still need to be faster, but we are catching up, that’s something positive. Mercedes is still ahead, but it is a bit difficult to judge where Ferrari stands. I think that we were ahead in Baku, but here we need to see. You need a few races to see where you are. Teams are not standing still. We need to work harder to catch up with the rest.”

Max concludes with the fact that rain has been predicted: “That’s nice. Maybe it would help, but the first priority is to finish the race.”

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