Interview with Frits van Eldik and others | February 18, 2015
Frits van Eldik, a professional photographer and close friend of the Verstappen family, is waiting for us there for lunch. He met Jos in 1989, when he was discovered by Marlboro. He saw Max born and admits that, as a close friend, he might not be entirely objective when discussing him.
“Watching Max in a kart seemed unreal,” he confessed, referring to his work primarily with De Telegraaf, the country's largest daily newspaper. “I've seen drivers like Alonso and Räikkönen, guys of that caliber. But him, he was incredible. He amazed everyone who saw him in action. Every year, as a champion, he aspired to move up to the next category but couldn't because of his age. (...)
Six or seven years ago, back in Genk, it was raining, and Jos's goal was to make him understand that he needed to go off the racing line to find grip. He took a kart, driving on the racing line to force him to go wide so he could experience the difference for himself. Two corners were enough for him to understand. That's one of Max's qualities. He learns quickly and adapts perfectly to changing conditions. Jos shaped him. He always wanted the best for him. Red Bull had already approached him a few years ago. I think Max was only 12 then. But Jos turned down the offer, arguing it was too soon and that his son needed to focus on racing. (...)
When they arrived at the Norisring last year, Jos jokingly said to Max, ‘Just so you know, I’ve only started here twice, but I’ve won both times.’ Jos had to be away on Sunday. After winning the third race, having already won the first two, Max immediately came up to me, laughing, to say, ‘There you go, that’s just to shut Dad up.’” The anecdotes keep coming.
Our very talkative interviewee recounts with emotion all those moments spent with Verstappen Jr., as if he were his own son.
“On October 11, 2013, at the Pembrey circuit in England, driving a Manor MP Formula Renault 2.0 (Editor's note), Jos wanted to discreetly give him his first test in a single-seater,” he continues. “The day before, he wondered if he would be able to do it. Max had never worn a harness in his life. How should you be positioned in the car? What should my field of vision be? So many unknowns for him. In the morning, it was pouring rain. But the session went ahead. It was unbelievable.” Jos himself told me, “But he needs to slow down!” To which I replied, “Forget it, he's a Verstappen, he doesn't slow down.” A few laps later, he came back with a big smile, arguing that it was much easier than karting. It was funny... Then he did two more runs before asking to change this or that detail, notably his driving position. Exactly what Jos dreamed of hearing. In every collective test session of Formula Renault 2.0 that he subsequently participated in, he found himself at the front…” Hence his direct move to Formula 3. “Actually, Formula Renault seemed almost too easy for him,” laughs Frits van Eldik.
Invited to Valencia in mid-December 2013 to participate in the collective F3 tests, he set the fastest time. “That's what I love, that's what I want to do,” he confessed to his father.
The rest is history. He joined Van Amersfoort Racing, with the aim of learning in 2014 before challenging for the title in 2015. If he had had a little more experience and a bit more luck, he could have been crowned champion (he finished 3rd behind Esteban Ocon and Tom Blomqvist), having been, with 10 wins, the most successful rider. (Editor's note). Nobody expected to see him at the front with this team, which wasn't a benchmark like Carlin or Prema.
Delighted to be able to talk to us about his “darling,” something he had previously forbidden himself because of his relationship with the family, our photographer-biographer couldn't help continuing his story.
“Over the years, Max hasn't changed and has kept his incredible kindness. At the beginning of February, in Jerez, I laughed when I saw him eating his meal. Jos asked me why I was laughing. When he's working, when he's talking with his engineers, you get the impression he's 25 years old. Outside of that, he's still a kid. He has that 17-year-old face and I felt like I was watching my own son eat.” And for good reason, he hasn’t even finished puberty. “But his age isn’t a problem,” our Dutch colleague exclaims.
“Everyone is amazed by his maturity in press conferences. But Max has been giving interviews since he was five! He can answer you in Dutch, English, German, and even a little Italian. Before promoting him to Toro Rosso, the Red Bull decision-makers tested him, notably in the simulator, and concluded that he was ready, while committing to teach him what he lacked. Max is an honest person, and he finds the leap from F3 to F1 easier than the one he had to make when he left karting at the end of 2013. So yes, it won't be easy; he'll have to adapt to the size of the team as well as the marketing and media operations. But on the track, he's going to surprise more than a few... If you give Max an electric bike, he'll go play with it and will want to be the fastest. Give him an F1 car, he'll do the same, it's as simple as that. He will, however, have to learn not to win, and that's something he's not used to. Until now, he has always fought in the leading pack, regardless of the category, the team, or the conditions. Now, we're going to compare him with his teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr. Last week, a journalist pointed out to him that the Spaniard had much more experience than him (191 single-seater races compared to 47 for the Dutchman, see p. 85. Ed.). Max replied that accumulating races doesn't make you faster, but simply allows you to gain experience. He believes that speed is a natural gift that you either have or you don't.”
Jos Verstappen was a very good kart racer, but today, if the two men were to face off on the track, “Max would be right there with him,” according to Frits van Eldik. The obvious question everyone is asking is whether the student will surpass the master, who, in 107 Grands Prix, has only twice experienced the joy of the podium despite undeniable speed.
The family photographer thinks he has a starting point for an answer. “With Jos, it was all or nothing, and unfortunately, it was more often nothing,” he says. “Max contrasts his fiery temperament with incredible calm. He is composed, smarter, more realistic. At Suzuka (his first appearance in FP1), his engine gave out. He didn't panic and parked his car in a safe place as soon as he found an opening in the guardrail. That says a lot… He possesses incredible abilities and an intelligence reminiscent of Alonso, who isn't just one of those drivers who are simply fast. It reminds me of an anecdote from karting. Max had started 10th but jumped to 2nd place at the first corner. Just before the finish line, he braked hard to drop back to 3rd, which allowed him to position himself on the clean part of the track for the start of the next heat.
Jos and Sophie, although already separated, were both there. Jos had called out: "Did you see his start? He's a real Verstappen." It's true that it's an exercise in which he himself excelled. Sophie had then retorted to him: "And did you see what he did at the end? He thinks like his mother." That's exactly it!”
It's past 2 p.m. and for us too, time is of the essence. We have an appointment in less than 30 minutes with another Frits, in this case van Amersfoort, who employed Max in F3 last year.
The GPS indicates a 17-minute drive to Huizen, a small town located about ten kilometers to the north. Located in the middle of an industrial zone, the headquarters of the Dutch team is hidden by a semi-trailer bearing the team's logo. The hangar, of reasonable size, is unassuming.
Inside, young engineers are preparing three F4 cars. The F3 cars are undergoing maintenance at Dallara, in Italy. On the wall are photos of Bas Leinders, Laurens Vanthoor, Richie Stanaway, Tom Coronel, and Jos Verstappen, all drivers who have made their mark on the history of this team, founded in 1975, which boasts four German F3 titles. “We had all heard about Max’s incredible karting career,” Frits van Amersfoort points out immediately. “I had watched him, and I can assure you that even his own shadow struggled to keep up. Jos had also asked us on several repeated occasions to let him drive one of our F3 cars, but we never found the time.
Finally, it was in one of Motopark's single-seaters that he carried out the Valencia tests. He achieved exceptional things in the car, and we all realized that he was already capable of pushing an F3 car to its limits. But I already had two drivers and thought Jos wanted Max to do Formula Renault 2.0. I told Hubb Rothengatter (Jos Verstappen's manager) that Max could go straight to F3. He went to compete in the Florida Winter Series, and then, upon their return, they came back to see us. Before we even knew it, we had already signed the contract.
We knew Max was talented, but we truly grasped the extent of his skill during the first tests. He set the fastest time of the four days. That was just the beginning. He notably had those six consecutive victories, at Spa and the Norisring, on two tracks that were very different. That's where the discussions with Mercedes and Red Bull began, something Jos admitted to us shortly afterwards.”
When he thinks about the rise of his former driver, Frits van Amersfoort still finds it hard to grasp. “Sophie carried him in her womb for 9 months, and it only took him 9 months to go from karting to F1,” he notes. “It's mind-blowing. He has it in his genes and was forged from a very young age. And that's something drivers who start later can't catch.”
Then Jos developed it in a very intelligent way. Max and Jos, whom I always associate, live and breathe motorsport 24/7. It's all they think about.
They're always the first to arrive at the circuit and the last to leave. All of this combined has made him an exceptional driver, because yes, he doesn't fit any of the current standards. His former engineer, Rik Vernooij, sees many qualities in Max, including “his concentration, his speed, his intelligence, and his ability to listen.” He also has a disconcerting ability to attack from the outset, unlike most of his rivals, who need four or five laps, the time necessary for all the equipment to reach temperature and get into a rhythm. He immediately grasps the limits of the equipment he has at his disposal at a specific moment and under specific conditions, and therefore makes a difference right from the start. Racing is in his blood, and he is very strong in overtaking maneuvers. He manages to surprise his opponents. It's intuitive. In F3, he was less dominant in qualifying than he was in the race where, in my opinion, he had a slight edge over the competition. We'll have to see what he manages to do in qualifying in F1, but in the race, I'm absolutely convinced he'll be able to make the difference. For Van Amersfoort Racing, there will be a before and after Max Verstappen. It's with a touch of nostalgia that the team owner tells us: “It's 2015 and we're still thinking about Max. But that's in the past for us now.”
The late afternoon is approaching, and we leave Huizen for Kevelaer, Germany, about twenty kilometers from the Dutch border. We are invited to dinner by René de Boer, a Dutch journalist who writes for various media outlets, including De Telagraaf.
A member of the FIA F3 European Championship and DTM organization, he followed young Max's entire 2014 season. “I saw him for the first time in 2008 at Le Mans,” he told us. “He was accompanying his father, who was competing in the 24 Hours in the Van Merksteijn Motorsports Porsche RS-Spyder (a victory in LMP2. Ed.), a team for which I was the press officer. It was funny, he wanted us to explain the telemetry readings to him. Last year, the turning point of his season was the Pau F3 Grand Prix. He made mistakes there, which he acknowledged, but he learned from them. It was a real turning point for him, as he went on to win six races in a row, at Spa and the Norisring, where he was ruthless in the rain. He developed enormously throughout the season and learned very quickly. For me, he's ready for F1. He seems impervious to everything around him, and that's a great strength. Fortunately, because he's highly anticipated. And this all the more so since he's the son of Jos, who had an incredible number of fans.”
A few hours earlier, Frits van Amersfoort had also admitted to us that he had received various threatening and insulting emails after Max was forced to retire due to a technical issue at the Nürburgring.
The third and final day of our journey takes us back to Belgium, to the Limburg province, in Maaseik, known for being the birthplace of the brothers Jan and Hubert Van Eyck, 14th-century painters. It's there that Max and his father live, near Sint Jansberg, a most peaceful residential area where elegant houses stand side by side. Belgium is something of a tax haven for wealthy Dutch people. In the streets, people seem almost ignorant of the presence in the area of the new darling of the paddock who could, however, soon contribute to the reputation of this Dutch-speaking city of approximately 25,000 inhabitants. Before returning to France, we decide to stop at the Genk international karting circuit, about thirty kilometers to the west. Upon our arrival, aspiring professionals are honing their skills on the tarmac. This is where Max learned the ropes. Two days earlier, his sister Victoria, who recently took up karting again, was also putting in laps.
Paul Lemmens, owner of the track and GKS (Genker Kart Shop), warmly welcomed us before launching into a long monologue. He has also worked with Jos Verstappen, Jenson Button, André Lotterer, Bas Leinders, and Jérôme d’Ambrosio. “As in all sports, some have talent and others don’t. Undeniably, Max has a lot of it, and he also had the benefit of a fantastic mentor and mechanic in his father,” he emphasized. “He owes him everything. And he’s very well-balanced.” I always say that a driver with a lot of talent only needs 70% of their brain to go fast. The remaining 30% is used to observe, to analyze the equipment, the conditions, the behavior of their rivals. It's very important. I've seen him several times start last due to a mechanical problem and win the race. Some panic, he never does. Bad luck only increases his motivation tenfold.” Clearly proud, Paul Lemmens shows us his workshops and his test bench before offering us a few laps of the circuit.
As we're leaving, I ask him the question that's been burning on my lips, which concerns the identity of the lap record holder on his track. His answer, unequivocal, sounds like a given: “Max,” he says, turning on his heel.
Back in Paris on Saturday, February 14th, I came across a message from Frits van Eldik who, following our interview two days prior, had written these few words on Facebook:
“I’ve known Max since he was very young. He’s a unique driver and a wonderful man. For 12 years, he’s impressed me every time he gets behind the wheel. He’s always thrilled me, but I’ve always doubted my objectivity. For years, I preferred silence. But I felt the need to share my feelings with the outside world… That a French magazine is dedicating so many pages to this very special teenager is a sign, but I can guarantee you that in the years to come, a lot of ink, in various languages, will be spilled about him.”
