In an interview with the media this morning, Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen’s first participation in a Grand Prix weekend came to a smokey end when his STR suffered an engine failure in FP1.
Verstappen who turned 17 on Tuesday, was in action in Friday’s opening practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.He completed 22 laps with a best time of 1:38.157, which put him 2.696s off the pace but only 0.4s short of team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
His session was cut short by a few minutes when his STR’s Renault engine failed. Renault Sport confirmed that it was an “ICE issue” that curtailed his running. In his interview with the media this morning, Verstappen was happy with his day’s work. Verstappen stated the following:-
‘I was quite relaxed. I just did what I had to do. I was not close to pushing the limit, just driving safely without doing anything crazy and trying to make a lot of laps. I can’t complain really, I enjoyed it a lot and that was the main thing today – just to get experience and make a lot of laps.
‘I think in general it was more about learning the car, there is quite some difference compared to the 2012 car so I just build it up lap-by-lap and by the end you get used to it. It is always good to drive an F1 car.’
It is clear that Verstappen did what he needed to in his debut in FP1 this morning and he managed to get experience and put in a lot of laps despite his engine problems during the latter stages of the session. He impressed a lot of pundits and fans with his attitude, how he performed with the car during the session and also the manner in which he accepted the engine troubles that befell him at the end of his session. But it is this experience that Verstappen has acquired today that will provide him with a good foundation for him to build on and improve on. And this will be the best preparation he could wish for as he makes his full time debut in Australia next season with the Toro Rosso
As for concerns about his age (Verstappen will still only be 17 when lines up on the Aussie GP grid in 2015), further on in his interview, Verstappen insisted that age is just a number. Verstappen added the following:-
‘I’m not focused on the age, it doesn’t matter to me. I think at the end, age doesn’t make any difference – if you are ready for it and you have prepared well, age is just a number. Sebastian (Vettel) started when he was 19 and look at him now, some people can make it and some cannot.’
As Verstappen points out, age is just a number and using Vettel as an example is a case in point. At the end of the day, if Verstappen can do what Vettel has done in his Formula One career and show that he can be competitive, then Verstappen has a bright future ahead of him, with all the potential to improve and get better too. And that is all that matters, if a driver can perform on the track, age simply does not matter at all.
Overall, today has been a right step in the right direction for Verstappen. He has shown despite his debut not ending well that he can perform in an F1 car and to finish in twelfth place is a fantastic achievement. All credit to Verstappen on what he has achieved today, he should hold his head up high and be proud of himself, just like his family and friends will be.
This result and the experience he has gained with Toro Rosso today will only encourage and motivate him further in the remaining few races where he will be taking part in more FP1 sessions. And if Verstappen can continue to perform like this, then we could be seeing a very special talent develop within Formula One that we rarely encounter or see develop. And at the age that he is, not only is that exciting to see; but there is also the potential to improve and get better too as time goes on during his career. Let’s hope that is the case for Verstappen and I think it might just be worthy keeping an eye on his progress within the sport.
