"Max uses his head more," says Jos Verstappen

Jos Verstappen says that his son Max is using his head more in the races, although he still has to take risks if he wants to compete with his rivals faster than the Red Bull cars.

"I notice that Max is using his head more during the race and that he is taking less risk," said the former Formula 1 driver Ziggo SportPeptalk program during a phone interview Monday in Dubai.

"But when it comes to the basic pace, we are lagging behind," said Jos. "Then he has to take risks at every race for a podium." It's recurring at every race.

"Max was forced to do a number of moves [on Sunday] for that he could get third place, "he explained, pointing out that it was still much easier for the winner of the race, Lewis Hamilton, who was able to start from pole position.

"[Hamilton] drove a car a lot faster and that makes it a bit more convenient if you are able to start pole at every race, "he said. It starts from pole, then wins the race, you do not have to take such risks.

"This way, it's easy to say that you're the best driver, and of course he has the best car too."

In the previous race in Brazil, Max was bumped into Esteban Ocon, which cost him a seemingly certain victory. The duo rallied again during the season finale in Abu Dhabi, while Max was looking to recover from a senator problem early.

Fortunately this time, both drivers had lasting effects: Max took third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

"They were risky but I think they were really good too," said Jos about pbading his son this week. "I knew what Max was going to do because in this turn of previous races, he had also doubled the lot.

"He has to do it in a corner where no one expects it and it's actually the problem he's facing all year."

Overall, Jos stated that he was proud of his son's growth and improvement as a pilot in 20188, particularly after a difficult start to the year when the technical frustration and technical reliability of the car contributed to his own mistakes.

"At the beginning of the season, everything was heading south," said Jos. "Some movements that do not stick as he wished, and all the press stumbles upon him.

"[But] Max has never been so motivated and has been extremely well prepared this year, "he added, highlighting a solid second half of the 2018 campaign.

"America was good, Russia was good too, but Austria was also very important and good, Mexico was good, as was Brazil and Abu Dhabi, it was also very successful.

"But then, you see that he's learned a lot and that he's been super-efficient at almost every race."

The only stain on his notebook during his recent outings was the post-race altercation with Ocon in Interlagos' parc fermé, for which he will have to serve two days of "community service".

"I certainly will not look like an idiot," insisted Verstappen insistently. "I think they're already very hard on me for that, so let's find something that suits me."

"I think he's going to make cups of tea for [FIA president] Jeans [Todt]", said Christian Horner, boss of Verstappen at Red Bull.

Having finished outside the top three of this year's drivers' championship, Verstappen was able to avoid the FIA ​​Gala evening, although he jokingly proposed to participate if "I can maybe do it like a day out. community service ".

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