Toro Rosso: Verstappen “very impressive” for his first laps
Max Verstappen, future Toro Rosso driver next year in Formula 1, completed his first run with a two-year-old single-seater. According to his engineer, his tests were very impressive.
The young Max Verstappen, 16 years old, who will replace Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso seat next season, conducted his first real tests at the wheel of a Formula 1 car last Tuesday in Italy, on the Adria circuit, in the northeast of the country.
The Dutchman had previously done a demonstration show in the streets of Rotterdam which ended up in the wall. But this unfortunate incident didn’t seem to disturb the young man, who performed very convincing tests, according to his engineer, Xevi Pujolar: Max started his tests with intermediate tires and immediately found speed, making no mistakes. We worked on various procedures that make up a race weekend. He was very focused and precise and learned quickly without having to ask many questions. He got used to the car in the dry and drove at his speed, while we tried different fuel levels to replicate qualifying and race conditions by mixing short and long distances. For a first day, it was very impressive.
Jos’s son completed 148 laps without any incident and said he was very happy with his first day of learning: « I was really eager to do my first run in Formula 1 on a track truly dedicated to it. And I really enjoyed it. It was a great opportunity to work with Xevi, who will be my engineer next season, as well as to learn the function of all the buttons on the steering wheel. It will be hard to wait before getting back into a Formula 1 car, and I want to do it as soon as possible. »
Very important detail, Max Verstappen completed enough laps, without making any mistakes, to legitimately obtain his Super License, an essential element for driving in Formula 1. Steve Nielsen, the sporting director of Toro Rosso, also praises him: “For his real first day in a Formula 1 car, Max did a really good job, giving the impression of having been a Formula 1 driver for a long time. He didn’t make any mistakes all day and seemed confident. When we made a remark to him, he remembered it. In general, he conducted very good tests.”
