Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing became Formula 1 world champion for the second consecutive year on Sunday 9 October thanks to his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix. “TO 25 years is a fairly exceptional career”, reacted on franceinfor Alain Prost.
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Max Verstappen”amazed me and his stable too“, said this Sunday, October 9 on franceinfo Alain Prost, quadruple world champion of Formula 1, while the Dutchman Max Verstappen became, for the second consecutive year, world champion of Formula 1 after his victory at the Grand Prix of Japan. . At 25 years, “it’s quite an exceptional career.”
franceinfo: Did Max Verstappen amaze you this season?
Alain Prost: Yes, he amazed me and his team too. It’s half surprising. Last year I said we were going to see the best Verstappen after his first title. This year, we saw that he was able to secure points, which gives him increased psychological confidence. Next to that, there is a team (Red Bull) which is at the top of its game today. They won a championship and managed the new rules well which is not easy because a lot of team resources have been allocated to these rules. At 25, it’s a fairly exceptional career.
The race was interrupted on the third lap, for two hours, due to weather conditions and two retirements, and the safety conditions were not always good. What do you think ?
It doesn’t amuse me, it concerns me. We affect the safety of the pilots so it’s not very fun. There were two, three problems. Leaving in conditions like that is always complicated, but the real problem is the tow truck [en début de course un véhicule de dépannage était présent sur la piste alors que les pilotes s’y trouvaient également]. It happened in 2014 with the (fatal) accident of Jules Bianchi in quite similar circumstances. It seems incredible that on the same circuit we do the same thing again. A Formula 1, even if it enters the tow truck at 50 km/h, we know that the consequences are more than formidable. So it’s outrageous.
Did the presence of a breakdown vehicle on the track of the Japanese Grand Prix shock you?
I didn’t think we could see that again in an F1 grand prix and even in any race. We can wait one more lap for the cars to stop and we bring in the tow truck. That’s what we’ve always asked for. Even at the time we noticed the high speed of the runners but the problem is not there, that should not take place. It would be interesting to follow the investigation which will be carried out and which will be pushed by a lot of pilots.