Jos Verstappen proud of Max and team: 'Fantastic to win here'

Published on 02 July 2018 by Raymond Snip

Jos Verstappen witnessed his son Max win a Grand Prix for the fourth time. After Spain, Malaysia and Mexico, he can also add the race in Austria to the list.

Jos tells us about the end of the race, where the suspense was apparent: "When I noticed the tyres later in the race, I was worried." However, Max was able to manage his tyres very well to see the checkered flag first. "I think it's great that he wins, especially here on the Red Bull Ring, where we had less of a chance. Especially with so many Dutch fans, that's just fantastic."

Max was not the only driver struggling with tyre wear. How does a driver notice that the rubber starts to wear under the car? "You can see it in the mirror, but you can also feel it when they move around more due to the temperature," Jos explains. "You try to keep it under control and check the wheel spin. Max could do that with karting very well and still to this point."

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing also did a great job to bring both drivers in during the virtual safety car: "The whole combination of the team and Max has worked well today," says Jos. "If the team had not made such a good call to bring Max in, he would not have been in front of the Mercedes."

At the beginning of the season there was a lot of talk about Max's driving style and his learning curve. What is Jos’ take on this? "We always talk to each other, but I think that is not even necessary. Max himself knows what’s happening. Today he showed that he understands it very well. I just talked to some people and suggested that we would never question his abilities again, because he really knows what he is doing."

"It was said that he had to change his driving style, but because of his driving style, he took the win today. If Max had not made that pass on Raikkonen in the first lap, he would not have won. So, let's not talk about that anymore. It is something that makes Max so good and this result proves it."