Verstappen's Crash Proved He Was "Too Fast" For His Car Says Tost

Thursday, 11 January 2024 at 17:00

Max Verstappen's crash during his third practice session in a Formula One car was only proof that Franz Tost, the Dutchman, was too fast for it.

Former AlphaTauri team principal recently recalled the first time he had seen Max Verstappen in an F1 car during an off-season test with other juniors at Norisring. He said he, the Dutchman, was faster by half to two and a half seconds from everybody else.

It was then that the team principal decided he would make Verstappen the youngest driver to sit in an F1 car during an official Grand Prix weekend. Verstappen was only 17 years old when he entered the Japanese Grand Prix Free Practice Session.

The practice went well, so Tost decided to allow the Dutchman two more practice sessions during the Brazilian Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He told formule1.nl:

"I remember exactly what happened in Abu Dhabi in practice: he crashed immediately in one of the first laps there. And I also knew why: Max was simply too fast for the car."

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Rookies do not get many chances to sit in Formula 1 cars, so when they do, it is their primary task not to crash it. Otherwise, they might not get any more opportunities.

However, it wasn't the case with the triple World Champion. Tost saw immense potential behind the driver who crashed his car to the point where he blamed the crash on the car being too slow.

The Dutchman had a big moment during the Sao Paulo free practice, where he lost the rear of his car for a second.

However, he showed he had it under control with an incredible save and didn't even go off the track, which left engineers on his pit wall with open mouths. The former team principal added:

"In São Paulo, he was also going very fast. At one point, I think in the first corner, he almost lost the car. But how he then caught it and got it back was fantastic. No spin, nothing at all. For me it became clear there once again that he had the level to drive for us the following year."