Max on 2019: 'Everybody is positive and really motivated'
Published on 22 December 2018 by Stefan Meens
Despite the 2018 Formula 1 season having finished in Abu Dhabi a month ago, Max Verstappen is keeping busy throughout the winter months. Earlier this week, the Red Bull Racing driver joined Dr. Helmut Marko as a guest on Austrian TV show Sport & Talk on ServusTV. The duo looked back on the team’s 2018 campaign as well as their end-of-year staff party.
“It was a great party and everybody was there”, explained Max. “It was also Daniel Ricciardo’s last day at the team. Our year review video was great and we had a lot of fun as team mates.”
Looking back on Max’ fifth season in Formula 1, the Dutchman’s highlight was his win in Austria. “It was amazing, especially with so many Dutch fans there. It was awesome to with with a Red Bull Racing car at the Red Bull Ring. It was unbelievable. I didn’t expect it the night before the race. The race panned out a bit like the 2016 one, only this time it was for the win.”
Another positive surprise was the Brazilian Grand Prix, were the car was quicker than expected. “In normal circumstances, we would’ve won there”. Max’ second win of the season came in Mexico. “Our car was very good in the corners and we didn’t lose too much time on the straights. The two wins were nice.”
Despite a strong finish to the season, Max was realistic: “The first six races weren’t exactly positive, but I learned a lot. It definitely helped in the later races.”
Asked about Dr Marko's reputation of being tough but Max replied: “All my life I worked together with my dad, and he is very tough too. Ultimately, that’s a good thing. It brought me to F1, of course with the support of Red Bull and Helmut.”
He adds: “But you have to stay critical and that was necessary after those weekends in China and Monaco. We talked about it. These things can’t happen but sometimes you need to go through it to become stronger.”
Looking forward to 2019, Max remained coy: “It’s difficult to say as we don’t know what the others are doing. From our end, things are positive and everybody is really motivated. That’s important and wonderful to see.”
