Max Verstappen: “I was still drunk the day after winning my first F1 World Championship. I had commitments and I did whatever came up”
Max Verstappen shared a press conference prior to the Brazilian F1 GP with Fernando Alonso and Arvid Lindblad and made the journalists laugh with several nice and humorous answers, like when they asked him about Kimi Antonelli and all the commitments that he surely had to attend to the day after winning his first F1 crown last Sunday in Mexico.
“I think I was still drunk the day after being champion for the first time, so, without problems, I went with what came up. It’s always very special when you win your first World Cupalthough obviously you have commitments the next day, which is not the best thing in the world. But you always dream of winning the World Cup and that is the most important thing. If that means an additional day of media, what does it matter,” said a Max who had several such outings during the press appearance.
“Of course, many more people know him (Kimi) now and I’m sure he is even more of a hero in Italy, but he seems like a pretty humble guy to me and I don’t think he will change,” said about the new king of F1, the youngest champion in history at 20 years old.
Kimi Now he will be even more of a hero in Italy, but he seems like a fairly humble boy to me and I don’t think he will change
The Dutchman also showed humor when asked about a possible race in the rain and the problems the FIA had with the ‘sfotware’ they supplied to the teams in Sepang to compete on wet asphalt. “I have installed an antivirus in my car, so no problems,” he said between laughs. And before Arvid Lindblad answered, Max stepped forward. “You and I have the same software, so don’t worry,” he added.
The rain software? I have installed an antivirus in my car, so no problems
Max seemed in a very good mood after achieving another victory in Mexico, the third in the last four races. In fact, he has seven consecutive podiums and his car has performed very well since the evolutions he debuted in Baku. Since then, He was 2nd in Azerbaijan (he did not win due to the problems he had in qualifying with his engine), he won in Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico. He only suffered more than expected in Austin. And now, in Brazil, he wants to go for a victory again that would put him in 2nd position in the World Cup.
“The truth is that it is surprising to be second in the World Championship, but we will not complain. We had a lot of difficulties as a team at the beginning, the car was not where we wanted it to be. We had a lot of things to learn from the power unit and we have learned a lot throughout the season. In addition, the car has been more competitive lately,” he said about the runner-up finish.
The truth is that it is surprising to be second in the World Cup, but we will not complain. We had a lot of difficulties as a team at the beginning, the car was not where we wanted
“For my part, you never give up, you never settle for being 6th, 7th, or fighting in the middle class. I always tried to do the best possible in each situation and sometimes that means doing 6th if the car doesn’t perform better, but once the car is in a better working window, you can fight higher and win races. And when you win races you cut points from everyone,” he expressed in this regard.
I always tried to do my best in each situation and sometimes that means doing 6th if the car doesn’t perform better, but once the car is in a better working window, you can fight higher and win races. And when you win races you cut points from everyone
“That’s what’s happened in the last few races and I’m very happy about it, pBut it also shows that the team never gave up, that it has always been pushing to find improvements and understood the difficulties and I am happy with that because throughout the season we have been able to turn the situation around.”he added in a press conference in which he once again gave a response full of irony, when asked about the problems he had with the radio in some of the last races.
“Radio was much better in Mexico. We also tried a few things and it was a matter of configuration. But the team was listening to me well. Maybe the rest weren’t listening to me, but that’s fantastic. Maybe we shouldn’t fix it…”he said.
The things you hear me complain about are because I am never satisfied, something can always be improved and I am always trying to fine-tune, find improvements. It’s more about making sure the team finds more lap time in all those details.
“And the things you hear me complain about are because I’m never satisfied, something can always be improved and I’m always trying to fine-tune, find improvements. If you consider that I’m complaining… it’s more about making sure that the team finds more lap time in all those details,” he clarified.
Expectations for the weekend
Looking ahead to this weekend, in Brazil, he preferred not to make predictions on a track where there is usually a good show.
“It’s hard to say, because it’s very tight up there. Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting the energy deployment right or the configuration of the car. We’ll try to do that. This year it’s not a sprint format, so we’ll have a little more time to configure the car and that could be good or bad, we’ll see,” he commented.
“Interlagos is a fantastic circuit, good for racing. It has had crazy racing at times and for me to start from the top or from the back, with rain and so on, and it looks like it may rain here again. So it’s exciting. I always like coming to Brazil. Part of my in-laws are here too and I always enjoy when we come,” Max noted.
“I think it’s the curves, which are banked, have several lines… and the continuation between curves with the line you make, you can prepare the curve differently. The degradation is always high, which also makes the race interesting. There are all those factors. And also, if the weather plays its cards, that makes it possible to create a great spectacle,” he expressed.
