Max Verstappen: “Up to this point I would give myself an eight”

With eight races remaining in his first season in formula 1, the youngest pilot of the Circus and son of art Max Verstappen he made a brief assessment of his for us 2015 World, before getting back behind the wheel for the weekend in Monza, where he prepares for another exciting performance.

Before your debut there was a lot of talk about you and your young age. Many have spoken out for or against your presence in Formula 1. What is your opinion on yourself at this point in the season?
Yes it's true, there was clearly some criticism before the start of my season in Formula 1 but I believed in myself and I think the races so far have shown that age at least is certainly not a problem , so I'm very happy with how it's going and my performance so far. This is a rookie year; there are a lot of things to learn and at the same time you also make mistakes but I would say I'm doing quite well. I mean, tenth place overall isn't bad at all!

How is the relationship with your boxing partner, Carlos Sainz jr?
We are good teammates and good friends at the same time. We try to help each other and the team does the same so I think it's a good combination.

If you had to give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, what would you say?
Before I would have said between 7 and 8 but now 8, definitely. The last few races went very well; I made a lot of overtakes and brought home some good points.

Is your father happy?
I think he's happy, at least I hope so.

Are you ready for this weekend in Monza?
I've never raced here, I've only done two days of testing with the F3 but it's definitely different from the F1. On this track with our low downforce it's not easy in terms of top speed and the same goes for braking and traction. However, it's nice to see how much passion there is in the air and I also have many Italian friends here. I can't wait to race.