Verstappen also impresses as an engineer: 'Coach for the other drivers'

Max makes impression

Atze Kerkhof is the team boss of Max Verstappen at Team Redline. At the weekend between the Grands Prix of Great Britain and Hungary, Verstappen participated in the iRacing 24 Hours of Spa on the simulator. Together with Jeff Giassi and Gianni Vecchio, the Dutchman finished a fine fifth, with a car that had a poorer BoP (Balance of Performance). The Porsche was therefore much slower and less controllable than the BMW of the competition.

''He also makes a game of it for himself, it is the challenge for him to drive such a stint without losing a single second by going as fluently as possible through the traffic. He's very good at that and he's still improving. And I think it's something that will help him on the real circuit as well'', Kerkhof says in front of the track. Motorsport.com.

Verstappen as engineer

''He also has a feeling in the virtual car which enables him to anticipate the set-up very well. In my opinion, his ability to figure out set-ups is something he has grown into. He can build a car around himself but also around his teammates, and in a way that he can really substantiate. In this way, he has become a sort of coach for the other drivers in the team and takes the whole team in tow.''

In fact, Verstappen has become so good at it that the team's engineers are hardly needed anymore. ''We have four very good engineers in house, but he has almost the same amount of engineering knowledge as them, while those engineers are all working at a high level in motorsport besides their work for Team Redline. And then he also has the feeling in his head that he can actually do something with that knowledge'', concludes the Redline team boss.