Max Verstappen: “No words”

May 15, 2016 will remain a special day in the family Verstappen. Under the eyes of his father Jos, Max won his first Grand Prix in F1 for his first race with his new team Red Bull Racing at the end of a twist scenario.

After taking control of the race thanks to the abandonments of the Mercedes (following the Hamilton – Rosberg collision) and facing his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, the young Dutchman played the management card in the face of the pressure exerted by Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari).

“I wasn't nervous during the race, I was aiming for a podium, but to win straight away is incredible, admits Verstappen. I just wanted to concentrate and drive as well as possible. We focused on the tires because at my last stop I still had to do 32 laps to the finish, but it worked well. With five laps to go, I saw that Kimi was letting up a little, he tried several times and of course it destroys your tires.

The old pilot F3 did not lack humor after arrival, at the end of a day which allowed him to erase Sebastian Vettel tablets as the youngest winner in F1. “It's an incredible feeling, I have no words for this. I was in very good company on the podium. Kimi even raced against my dad, so it’s very funny. In the back lap, when I was celebrating the victory and I had a little cramp, but that's part of the game."

Find the report and analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Catalonia, in issue 2063 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.