After Verstappen’s rivals were completely destroyed, he was told to ‘give back his licence’

After Verstappen’s rivals were completely destroyed, he was told to ‘give back his licence’

Former AlphaTauri team boss Max Verstappen recalls how impressed he was during an early scouting mission for Red Bull.

Former AlfaTauri team boss Franz Tost was a key figure in bringing new talent to Formula 1, including Max Verstappen. The Austrian, who was responsible for scouting talent for the Red Bull junior team alongside Helmut Marco, remembers the first time he met Verstappen during the Formula 3 season.
“I remember Max playing at Norisring (Germany) when he was 16 years old. “He was wet and he was 1.5 to 2 seconds faster than everyone else,” he told the BBC.
“They said all the other drivers had to hand in their licences, but Max Verstappen was the only driver on the scene.”

Toast: Normally drivers need 100-150km, but Verstappen doesn’t.

Verstappen will sign for Red Bull with Toro Rosso after the team offered their seat to rival Formula 1 rival Mercedes. The Dutchman made his F1 practice debut with Toro Rosso at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, aged just 17.
Tost was impressed by how quickly the F1 hybrid complex adapted to his performance. “During the first tests, I was impressed by the quick adaptation to speed and braking. Typically, a driver needs 100-150km to get used to the enormous acceleration and braking power of an F1 car. But from the beginning, he knew that.” said Toast. “I decided he would do 1FP at Suzuka [at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix] and the journalists said: ‘You are so crazy… Suzuka is one of the most dangerous circuits. How do I start at 1FP? That’s how it should be. Ready.\’

“Don’t talk too much. Let’s talk in five years and find out who was right. You or me?” I said. It hasn’t even been five years since the first year.