Graham Watson, who worked with Max Verstappen early in his career at Toro Rosso, now observes from a distance as Head of Operations at FOM, how Verstappen is making waves in Formula 1.
From the first day I started working with Max Verstappen and experienced him at Toro Rosso, I saw that he was special and his teammates would always be one or two tenths slower. Look at Carlos Sainz, Max’s first teammate: he’s fast, as we also see at Ferrari. Yet, you could see that he couldn’t find that extra half-tenth like Max when needed. Now, ten years later, you see that this has been the case with all teammates. Sometimes the difference was smaller, sometimes a bit more. But always at least two tenths.
I remember Max once came up to me on the plane, we were on our way to the next race. I asked how he was doing. ‘Not so good, I’ve had too many mishaps,’ he thought. But, I replied: ‘You’re at such a high level that even if you’re a few percent less to avoid risky situations, you’re still the fastest. You don’t have to destroy everyone, you just have to win.’ I don’t know if he listened to me, but those little mistakes crept out and the following year he scored maximum in every race.
From the moment you start working with them, you realize that boys like Max Verstappen are extraordinary. It’s not just me who sees it, the engineers do too. You can see it on their faces. After a lap in the car with talents like Max, they whisper to each other, and you can hear them thinking: ‘My goodness, what is this?’ This was also the case in Japan, when Max first got in at the free practice. Everyone was excited. When you work in Formula 1, you don’t follow the lower classes as intensively as team bosses do, because you’re so focused on your own performance. We had heard that Max was fast. Only no one knew exactly how fast. What I remember well from Japan is how calm he was and knew exactly what he had to do. There was already ‘an old head’ on a young teenage body.
Max’s training session in Brazil made an even bigger impression. He lost the car there in a skid. Most drivers would have crashed, Max kept the car on the track and drove his fastest time a lap later. Then you know that the confidence and belief is there. Max can deliver on demand. His mental strength is probably his greatest strength. He can block everything: a characteristic of the great champions. Max doesn’t listen to all the noise around him, he focuses on his work. The only reason he is in Formula 1 is to win. And that’s it.
At Toro Rosso, he created motivation. For a team, he is enlightening and inspiring. No matter who you are, you like to surround yourself with winners and want to be associated with them. With Max, that’s the case, because who wouldn’t want to work with such a driver? What strikes me personally after ten years: Max is still the same modest boy. He is not overwhelmed by the spotlights, as a person he has not changed a bit. He has learned to find his limits. Max is an extraordinary boy.
