Autohebdo July 15, 2026 – Interview with Frits van Amersfoort
HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT DID HE LEAVE ON THE TEAM DURING HIS SHORT TIME?
This whole year with Max has been a turning point for the entire team. At the end of last year (2025), we celebrated 50 years in motorsport. Looking back, we realize how much Max has changed the history of our team, just as he has changed the history of motorsport. I worked on cars back when Ayrton Senna was also driving. I don't like to make comparisons, but they belong in the same category. Max is Max, Senna was Senna, but we're talking about extremely special people. It was thanks to Max's resounding success that we were approached by Nicolas Todt about getting access to Charles Leclerc (in 2015). Everything stemmed from Max's success. I have to be honest: if Max had never joined our team and had gone elsewhere, I think Van Amersfoort Racing would have gone bankrupt. Managing the finances of a racing team is extremely difficult. Thanks to Max's successes, and because victory evokes emotion, people started to think we could perform miracles. In reality, we were working hard, but we had a magical driver, which completely changes people's perception of your business.
HIS SIX CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES AND HIS GREAT SUCCESS AT THE NORISRING (GERMANY. EDITOR'S NOTE) HAVE A LOT TO DO WITH IT, DON'T YOU?
The Norisring is a very short and twisty circuit, with only eight corners. We were lucky that the rain arrived just before the race. Max was absolutely dominant in the wet. It was extremely impressive. However, after all these years, it's difficult to single out just one moment. Max is an exceptional driver. When he's driving, something always happens. Within the team, we always said that with Max, you're never bored. You're constantly under pressure and you always witness something extraordinary. The Norisring weekend was special because F3 had three races per weekend back then, and winning them all was quite unusual. But Max isn't an ordinary driver.
DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR MEMORY THAT STANDS IN YOUR MIND ABOUT YOUNG MAX?
A very special moment from the 2014 season happened at the very end of the year, and I'll never forget it. It was in Macau. During Saturday's qualifying race, Max was in second place. He's probably wiser now, but he refused to finish second. He attempted an overtaking maneuver that failed, and he crashed the car. As a result, he couldn't finish the race and had to start from the back of the grid on Sunday. That Sunday race was marked by numerous crashes and a red flag. We had to repair the car, particularly the suspension. Ultimately, Max climbed from last to seventh place. It's an unforgettable memory.
YOU WHO KNEW THE REAL THING, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS SEEM-TO-BE QUEST THAT TEAMS ARE ON TO FIND THE "NEW VERSTAPPEN"?
You can't replicate what he did. Many people try. After that 2014 season, people contacted me asking me to coach their five-year-old child, which I declined. The special thing about drivers like Max is that they come from families of drivers. That makes a considerable difference. Children who grow up in this environment understand very early on that success in motorsport isn't achieved with the snap of a finger, but through hard work. The Verstappens were always the first to arrive at the circuit in the morning and the last to leave in the evening, sometimes staying until 10 or 11 p.m. They have that drive and understanding of racing within them. That's the big difference with many young drivers today, who don't always understand that you have to work incredibly hard. And I'm not just talking about the physical work in the gym, which is important, but also the analytical work with the engineer to gain every last hundredth of a second in each corner. Max - just like Kimi (Antonelli) today - was raised with that mentality.
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