Max contests his 100th Grand Prix at COTA: 'Time has flown by'
Published on 31 October 2019 by Stefan Meens
This weekend’s US Grand Prix will be Max Verstappen’s 100th Grand Prix. In that centenary of races, the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver has set some remarkable records; youngest ever Grand Prix driver, points scorer, clocker of the fastest lap, podium scorer, and of course the youngest driver to win a Formula 1 race.
“It’s a good start”, smiles Max. “It all flew by if you think about the fact that I’ll drive my 100th race when I’m 22. I never expected that. Those five years have flown by. There were many great memories and hopefully we can add to them.”
Max enjoys being in the USA. “I love it, no matter where; Austin, Los Angeles or Miami, it’s all really cool. An extra race in the US wouldn’t be too bad, as long as it’s an exciting race and it attracts a lot of fans.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s event, Max is optimistic. “We can have another good race. Last year we were able to reach to podium after starting from the back and that was a good result. By starting from the back, we were able to go for an alternative strategy, which worked well. Now, we want to start near the front and see what we can do from there.”
“In Mexico the car worked well so we’ll try to continue that trajectory. If we don’t lose too much time on the straights, it could be another positive weekend. Qualifying won’t be as good as in Mexico but if we’re only a few tenths behind, we’ll have a chance in the race.”
Looking at the championship standings, Max still has a chance to finish third in the rankings. “That’s not as important to me. Of course, it’s better to be third compared to fourth or fifth. We’ve lost a lot of points in the last few races, but it’s positive we can take the fight to Ferrari in the championship because they lost a lot of points at the start of the season.”
