Skip to main content
Global Edition
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Verstappen tests out track to host Dutch GP

Duration: 01:05s 0 shares 1 views

Verstappen tests out track to host Dutch GP
Verstappen tests out track to host Dutch GP

Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen says he was positively surprised by the new Zandvoort circuit.

SHOWS: ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS (MARCH 4, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1.

VERSTAPPEN SETTING OFF IN CAR 2.

VERSTAPPEN ON TRACK 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) RED BULL FORMULA ONE DRIVER, MAX VERSTAPPEN, SAYING: "The impression I think is very positive, I really enjoyed it out there.

I mean the track was already a lot of fun to drive before the renovation started, but I think turn three, where already there is a massive banking.

I didn't expect it to be that big, but it is actually really cool.

Like when you enter it is quite a blind spot when you go into the corner because you're so low in the car.

So, you can do a lot of different lines through there.

And then the last corner as well that will be - yeah, it's pretty banked and when we enter here with the new cars and the DRS going open through that corner, yeah I think it will be a good challenge and a lot of fun." 4.

VERSTAPPEN ON TRACK 5.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) RED BULL FORMULA ONE DRIVER, MAX VERSTAPPEN, SAYING: "The same as every other year and other Grand Prix.

I mean yeah there will be a lot of people supporting you but at the end of the day I will always try my very best at every single Grand Prix.

So, for me that doesn't change anything in terms of preparation for this one but of course you want to have a good result." STORY: Dutch driver Max Verstappen said he was positively surprised by the new Zandvoort circuit after he tested it out on Wednesday (March 4), two months before it hosts the first Dutch Formula One Grand Prix in 35 years.

"I really enjoyed it out there," Verstappen said after he had driven his first laps in a Formula One car, a 2012 Red Bull, on the fully renovated circuit.

As the youngest Grand Prix winner and first Dutchman ever to triumph, Verstappen has attracted tens of thousands orange-clad fans to races in Belgium and Austria and helped Zandvoort sell out its 300,000 tickets months ago.

Hoping to permanently reclaim a place on the Formula One calendar, Zandvoort recently completed a 15 million euros overhaul of its picturesque but outdated circuit in the dunes 25 kilometers west of Amsterdam.

Its most prominent new features are two banked curves, which Verstappen said give the track a unique feel.

Known for his spectacular and unorthodox overtaking maneuvers, Verstappen has many Dutch fans dreaming of such moves at Zandvoort, despite its reputation as a track with virtually no chance for drivers to pass each other.

Although the hopes of his many Dutch fans could lead to extra pressure to excel in his home Grand Prix, Verstappen is not expecting to feel more stress.

You might like