Max Verstappen Answers F1 Driver Questions

I'm Max Verstappen,

and today I'll be answering your questions

from the internet.

This is F1 Driver Support.

[upbeat music]

So, When is the best time to pit?

In our team, together with Oracle,

we run over 8 billion simulations

before the race basically starts.

So it gives a lot of opportunities to make sure

that, you know, we have the right strategy out there

and know when to pit basically.

Do F1 drivers watch endless hours of tapes of each other,

in-car film of other drivers, like football players do?

I mean, we do look at on-boards

of even other drivers, yourself.

You do look back sometimes on the years before.

But the thing is that also the F1 cars

every year they change

and sometimes, with that, the balance changes.

The weather has a massive influence as well.

The wind direction has a big influence.

So, yes, you can learn a little bit of it sometimes

or you can use it as a little bit of a reference to start,

but then it's very important to basically just go off

what you learned throughout the weekend,

and then just try and optimize it from there.

What's your best advice

to improve your overtaking ability?

Well, practice a lot.

I mean, practice makes perfect,

that's in the real world, virtual world.

The more you race, you know, the more

you come into these kind of situations

where you have to either defend or overtake.

Asking F1, which track statistically is the most exciting?

Overtakes, accidents, flags, pits stops,

weather, drama, and unexpected winners consistently.

I guess Baku maybe.

I think of the history of F1

probably is a bit unexpected with stuff.

You know, exactly, like, it's all spelled out there.

A lot can happen there, good or bad.

Wet races are boring, cars are slow and there's no racing.

The only entertainment is driver mistakes.

Sir or ma'am, you are an idiot.

[production crew laughing]

Wet races are not boring,

cars are not slow, and there is racing most of the time.

Yeah, that's definitely not the only entertainment,

the driver mistakes,

so I very heavily disagree.

You like them? I like them, yeah.

I mean, I like wet races, dry races.

It also depends a lot on how much rain,

when it comes in, start of the race, middle of the race,

stuff like that.

They can be very entertaining.

What's up with the new Formula 1 obsession in the USA?

What's up with that?

I guess, you know, having a series on Netflix helped a lot.

Also, throughout COVID, you know, people being more aware

of what's going on,

you know, especially when you were mainly sitting at home,

you couldn't really do much.

That definitely helped a lot.

And then, of course, I think also the ownership

has really pushed it, of course,

to have three races in the US

showing more awareness for the sport here.

So I think all those things definitely help.

What is the biggest difference

between a good driver and a great one?

I think the difference between a good one and a great one

is to be, first of all, consistently performing well.

Especially when the pressure is on,

you know, to get the best out of yourself.

You know, these kind of moments really define,

I think, the difference between a good and a great driver.

What is Max Verstappen's biggest weakness,

and in what way does it affect his performances, if at all?

Well, I will never tell you. [laughs]

No, you would never say something like that about yourself.

Even if you know what it is,

you try to work on it and that's it.

Why do F1 drivers need to be physically fit?

Well, like in any other proper sport,

if you're not fit, you can't perform at your very best.

You know, within those one and a half hours,

as well, in the race,

there are a lot of forces on your body,

and you need to make sure

that you're not busy trying to hold on to the car.

And, basically, yeah, be fit enough to drive the car

and be busy with other stuff as well.

Does anyone know about the mental preparations

the drivers do to stay on top of their game?

It depends on the driver.

You know, some do more than others.

Some keep it very simple.

Some need to do all different kind of prep

before they jump in the car.

I'm probably on the least side of things

where, yeah, you do a bit of warmup for your muscles

and stuff, some tiny reaction games.

But you can also easily just sit in the car and go.

You know how driving and sneezing at the same time

is horrific for that split second,

what do F1 drivers do?

How can they sneeze and drive?

Doesn't really happen that often.

I think for me it only happened really,

I think when you're a bit ill, then it can happen.

But, yeah, you have to deal with it.

I mean, it's like, what? Half a second, a second?

It's not nice, but it can happen.

How different is each Formula 1 car?

Well, just looking at it already,

most of them, of course, look quite different,

and that's, of course, from the things that you can see.

Most of the things, of course, underneath

are completely different or designed in a different way,

and that's I think also what makes Formula 1 very special.

You know, you have all the teams racing,

but they all try to find it in their own way

to be competitive.

Why do a F1 drivers

all drink out of inordinately-long straws?

Can't they just drink from normal bottles

or reasonable-length straws like us mortals?

I don't know what they exactly mean with that,

because, for me, it's quite a short straw

that I have connected in my helmet.

So, at least for me, it's quite a normal straw.

I don't what they've been looking at, to be honest.

What is the benefit of eating ice?

Why do F1 drivers eat ice?

Like an ice cream or what?

[Production] I think pieces of ice.

I don't eat that.

Do Formula 1 drivers really lose weight

from the sheer tension of a single race?

I mean, I lose weight from sweating

and my effort that I put in during the race,

not from the tension.

But everyone's different, I guess.

How do drivers usually get into Formula 1?

Well, first of all, by being better than others.

Most of the time, of course, you start racing in go-karting.

And then, of course, you go up through the ranks,

and that can go in many different ways, to be honest.

A few categories out there,

but, yeah, it's more or less like other sports, right?

You move up the ranks throughout your career

to get to the highest possible.

What's a random F1 moment

that you remember or sticks with you?

I mean, winning your first race,

you will always remember that.

Your first title, stuff like that,

those are always very special moments.

How do F1 drivers take a leak?

Well, you cannot during the race.

I mean, there's no toilet in the car,

so you have to try and make sure

that, yeah, you go before the race starts.

Otherwise, it's a very long race to try and keep it in.

How would an '80s or '90s Formula 1 car do

against the modern Formula 1 car?

Not very good, I would say.

They're a bit slower.

But, I mean, it depends a lot

on the regulations as well, right?

And the knowledge increases over the years,

so it's normal.

How do F1 drivers reduce their reaction time?

Well, you can do maybe some pre-racing warmup to help,

that might help a little bit.

But normally I think when you sit in the car,

I think with the adrenaline also kicking in,

your reaction time naturally,

like, you're really fired up anyway.

How do you have F1 drivers see through the halo?

Well, it's with your eyes, like, the 3D vision,

like, you kind of look around it.

We, also, most of the time, are not looking straight,

like, always looking left or right.

Who is the all-time F1 GOAT?

Well, I leave that up for the people themselves

to judge that, right?

Everyone has their own one,

and I guess that's also what makes it nice, right?

To have fans having their favorite driver or not.

This might be a dumb question,

but how do F1 drivers train?

Like, do they do practice races? Friendlies.

Unfortunately, we can't really practice a lot in F1.

Yeah, we have a few test days,

but, like, throughout the year,

we cannot drive the F1 car a lot.

So we spend a lot of time on our simulator, so more virtual.

It's, of course, to reduce the cost as well.

Otherwise, our teams go testing a lot,

so that's the only way to try and make sure

you keep developing your Formula 1 car

and try and get more performance out of it.

Pit stops, when to undercut/overcut?

Yeah, I mean it depends a bit

on the track layout, the tire deck.

You know, on some tracks,

an undercut is, of course, very strong,

because the wear on the tires is very high.

So when you're getting to the end of a stint,

you might be, let's say, two seconds slower

than when you put a new tire set on,

so then it's very important to know when to undercut.

But, on some tracks, the tire deck is not very high,

so basically every lap,

of course, the fuel load is coming down,

and that's actually giving you more lap time

than actually the wear is increasing,

so then an overcut can sometimes work as well.

Like Baku sometimes actually,

because then the warmup with the tires also out of the box

can be quite tough,

and especially between walls,

you always take a little bit more caution on the out-lap.

So a few tracks where overcuts work,

but mainly I would say undercuts are the way to go.

Out of curiosity, how many hours does the driver

actually spend in the car training and practicing,

and how many do they spend training/practicing

on the in-house sim?

Too many hours.

Throughout the race weekend,

I mean, you have the practice hours,

then you have qualifying in the race.

So well, what is it? Three hours of practice more or less.

And then, How many hours do they spend training/practicing

on the in-house sim?

I mean you do like, at least for me,

like 20, 25 days a year.

I would say it's more like a 9-to-5 day.

So you do quite a lot throughout the year.

And then, besides that,

of course, you're constantly discussing a lot of things

with the team, you know, even when you're not sitting

in the sim or the real car.

What is the greatest Max Verstappen victory

in your opinion?

For me, it's the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Honestly, for me, it's difficult to pick one.

Like I said before, probably winning your first one

was still, like, an amazing one.

Yeah, there've been some really good ones.

I don't know, I cannot pick, to be honest.

How different will 2026 F1 cars be to drive?

They will be very different.

The engine is already completely different,

so that will require a different kind of driving style.

The cars naturally as well.

It will be I think a big change

for everyone to get on top of these things.

And, especially, I think the first-year races

you will see quite a big difference between the teams

and understanding what to do.

I don't think even we know

fully what is exactly gonna happen.

So, yeah, try and not make it too complicated.

What specific innovation or rule change in Formula 1

over the past decade

has most genuinely improved the competitiveness

or excitement of the race as well?

I guess it's a bit of a love/hate relationship,

but I do think DRS has helped to race a bit more

in some tracks.

Unfortunately, with having so much stuff on the car,

sometimes it's very hard to follow,

and that's why, yeah, we need the DRS sometimes.

So opening the rear wing up on the straights

to be able to fight on the straights

and into the braking zones.

Otherwise, I think you would've had a lot

of boring races in some tracks.

All right, that's it.

Thank you for all the questions, and see you next time.

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