Jos Verstappen thought it had gone: "Then I walked away and sat down"
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Jos Verstappen didn't see it coming in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was significantly faster than the RB16B of Max Verstappen. Red Bull Racing had to hope for a miracle and it came courtesy of a crash by Williams driver Nicholas Latifi five laps before the chequered flag.
Jos Verstappen hesitated
"After about five laps I thought: 'this isn't going to be it'. Then I walked away and sat down in a small room upstairs where there was a television. Just alone. Then the safety car arrived and you know that everything can still change," Jos tells in an interview with De Telegraaf. It was just a matter of hoping that all the mess could be cleared away in time, otherwise the race would have ended under the safety car.
Verstappen sr. speaks of an unimaginable scenario. He did find it strange during the safety car that the FIA first decided not to let cars on a lap behind pass the safety car. "I've never experienced that before." However, Michael Masi changed that a few minutes later and they are only too happy with that at Verstappen's camp. "After that, thankfully, we did. The right decision, in my opinion."
For Jos Verstappen, this Sunday is a mighty fine moment. From a young age he has trained his son day in day out with the goal of becoming Formula 1 world champion.