Verstappen test Footwork
Door Rick Winkelman, zaterdag 5 december om 16 17
Op autosport.com is het verhaal herplaatst dat Autosport Magazine in 1993 schreef over de Formule 1-tests van het Footwork team.
Dat team testte Gil de Ferran (die zijn hoofd openhaalde aan een kastdeur in de trailer), Christian Fittipaldi (die reigenlijk voor Minardi reed) en Jos Verstappen.
Het waren de allereerste Formule 1-meters van Jos the Boss. Hij maakte indruk. Ik citeer:
Jos climbed aboard the Footwork-Mugen early on Tuesday morning. The sun was bright, the circuit dry and he appeared relaxed. In fact, he looked anything but a nervous newcomer, about to sample the star-studded world of F1 for the very first time. Even the presence of a Dutch TV crew, shadowing his every step, was dealt with like a seasoned F1 champion.
The Footwork fired up and Jos drove out of the garage. Fifteen minutes later he was back. His audience couldn't quite believe what they'd just seen. His fourth lap had been a 1m16.8s, which would have qualified him 24th for the previous Sunday's Grand Prix.
Still, they say getting within two seconds of a decent time is easy; it's the final tenths that are difficult. Within five more laps, Jos was down to 1m15.6s, just 0.1s shy of the qualifying time of the car's regular driver, Aguri Suzuki. By lunchtime, he had done 41 laps and had trimmed his time to 1m15.43s. Obviously, he felt comfortable with the Footwork, and F1.
"I must say I thought it would be quite difficult, the jump from F3 to F1," he said. "I was thinking about the power, the brakes, the fast corners. But really, it was not so difficult."
What about the massive increase in power under his right foot?
"Yes, that was incredible," he smiles. "On the first lap I thought ‘shit!' I never thought it would be so fast. But by the third lap I was really enjoying it, it was fantastic. After 10-15 laps it feels normal and you find yourself wanting more. Still, it's very fast."
In the afternoon, Jos's times tumbled further. At the end of 65 laps, he'd set a best time of 1m14.45s, good enough for 10th on the grid, and just 0.07s slower that Warwick. The pits were soon buzzing.
Teambaas John Wickham concludeerde over Jos: He has amazing natural feel".
Hopelijk heeft hij wel alleen maar de goede genen doorgegeven.... ;)
En gelukig heeft tie z'n genen doorgegeven. Max verstappen gaat ons zijn vader doen vergeten... ;)
Als iedereen dat nou eens in zijn achterhoofd houdt als we denken aan denken z'n carriere. In plaats van altijd naar negatief te zijn over de beste formule 1 coureur die we ooit in Nederland hebben gehad (tot nog toe.)
