Verstappen thrills home fans at Zandvoort

NewsDesk 1 min read

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This weekend the Red Bull Live Demo team were at Circuit Park Zandvoort with the RB8 and Max Verstappen in tow, performing for his home crowd.

Max certainly took advantage of the track time, unofficially obliterating the lap record in between the donuts, burnouts and general hoopla of a Live Demo event.

When not in the car, Max was either signing autographs or doing interviews – though he did also find time to perform with a magician and do some tricks. He also did a parade lap in a tour bus, stopping at various corners to chat to fans.”

“It is super to be here and driving the Red Bull Racing RB8,” said Verstappen. “The V8-engine makes a nice sound – that always makes it extra special. It is a slightly different car that I am normally used to, but with a better sound, so that is also better to use here.”

“I think that there are already more people than last year,” F1’s youngest-ever race winner said. “That is of course great to see and makes me absolutely proud. Certainly after you have done a run and you see everybody cheering, that is really nice to see. They are the best fans there are.”

“I know from my Formula 3-period that Zandvoort [which hosted the Dutch Grand Prix 30 times between 1952 and 1985] is a great circuit. There is way more grip now with the new tarmac. It is more comfortable to drive on, because there aren’t that many bumps anymore, that’s very positive.”

The Dutch teenager drove the circuit in 1:19.511, shaving three tenths off the previous record set by Luca Badoer in a Ferrari F2001 sixteen years ago.

After a busy weekend in Holland, Max is swapping his homeland for his home town, as Red Bull Racing gears up for the Monaco Grand Prix.