Max Verstappen Was Not Impressed by the Speed of an F1 Car During His Debut, Reveals Ex-AlphaTauri Boss

Sabyasachi Biswas | 04/12/2023
Max Verstappen Was Not Impressed by the Speed of an F1 Car During His Debut, Reveals Ex-AlphaTauri Boss

, hMax Verstappen is the most dominant driver in F1 at the moment. As much as he impressed everyone with his skills in 2023, he first burst into the scene back in 2015 with Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s sister team. Now, Franz Tost, former Toro Rosso boss opens up about how Verstappen felt when he first drove the F1 car before embarking on his legendary career.

Tost said in Beyond the Grid podcast, “The second free practice was in São Paulo. I don’t remember exactly in which corner. But he had a moment of oversteer somewhere. He lost the rear end but regained control of the car without any problems.”

He added, “Max wasn’t impressed by the speed just had it under control. That was decisive. It was very impressive that he immediately found the speed with so few laps.”

This came after Red Bull’s decision to put Max Verstappen in a car so early [age-wise] attracted a lot of criticism. However, the current three-time world champion proved his worth.

Now the same driver reigns supreme in F1 as he claimed 44 wins in the last three seasons. Along with this, he picked up 19 wins in a single season, and recorded ten back-to-back GP victories in 2023. As Verstappen continues to dominate, he now sees his former boss leave the sport.

Max Verstappen’ s former boss Franz Tost retires from F1

Franz Tost, one of the longest tenured team principals in F1 history left the sport at the end of the 2023 season. Tost joined the Red Bull fraternity in 2005 when Red Bull acquired Minardi. As Christian Horner took over the reigns at Red Bull, Tost got the opportunity to lead their sister team, Toro Rosso.

However, after 18 years in charge, Tost decided to leave after the 2023 season. The 67-year-old had his best results with the team when Toro Rosso/ AlphaTauri secured sixth position in the 2008, 2019, and 2021 F1 seasons.

Tost is set to be Red Bull’s stand-by consultant, as revealed by Dr. Helmut Marko to Sports Illustrated. Ferrari’s sporting director Laurent Mekies will take Tost’s place in AlphaTauri from the 2024 F1 season.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Franz Tost Max Verstappen

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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