From rain to heat: This is how Verstappen deals with it? 'Then your race is so over'
F1 News
![verstappen on extreme weather in formula 1](https://webp.gp.cdn.pxr.nl/news/2023/12/18/a7452e25d6df8dd048f8d62603510f3650ceca1e.jpg?width=1800)
- Ludo van Denderen
Formula 1 makes every effort not to leave anything to chance. Yet there is one factor that F1 cannot influence: the weather. In 2023 there were extremes, from the (suddenly) wet conditions at Zandvoort to the scorching heat in Qatar. Max Verstappen managed to win both extreme races.
Verstappen revealed during a livestream on TikTok last week that the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort was an absolute favourite of his. With the pressure of the massive home crowd on his shoulders, the Red Bull Racing driver kept his cool even though the track had become soaking wet at two points during the race.
"It was a crazy race. It was really crazy. Staying on track with the slick tyres in the beginning and the rain at the end was a really cool race," said Verstappen, who did have the advantage of not being bothered by the spray from predecessors as the front-runner. Nevertheless, the Dutchman could not rest on his laurels. "When you are at the front, you don't want to risk too much, but you also don't want to go too slow. You have to try and find a bit of a middle ground in that. Because it's an old school track, so if you make a mistake, you go into the gravel and your race was over."
Air conditioning in the Red Bull?
Instead, in Qatar - where Verstappen sealed his third world title - it was extremely hot combined with high humidity. The drivers stepped out of their cars exhausted and dehydrated. "Ideally you would like it to be a bit colder. It's uncomfortable, it's not nice. You can definitely see everyone was struggling when they came out of the car," Verstappen reflected on that day.
Making himself more comfortable, for example, by turning on the air conditioning, is impossible in a Formula 1 car. "No, not really, but I think from next year on, there will be some kind of cooling system maybe at a certain point. I guess that will help a bit. I think it was also not helpful that we had to do these mandatory stops. That meant that you could push a lot harder because you had limited laps. So I think all in all, next year will be better," Verstappen believes.