Verstappen looks back: 'I could never have imagined this'

Almost nine years ago at Spa-Francorchamps, Red Bull Racing announced that Max Verstappen would make his debut for the Toro Rosso team in 2015. Meanwhile, the Dutchman is a two-time world champion and is also dominating this year, hardly avoiding a third-world title. In a press briefing including GPblog, Verstappen looks back at the expectations he had before his Formula 1 debut.

"It feels like a long time ago now," begins the Dutchman. "I always had this approach of like, 'We will see'. I was like, well, I made it now to Formula 1 at the time, and we'll find out how it goes. I mean, I didn't really put any expectations or whatever. I always tried to get the best out of myself, and I jump into the car and my preparation, but you don't know in your career where it's going to end up because it also has to do with luck".

Verstappen started his career in the Toro Rosso and then, during the 2016 season, transferred to Red Bull Racing. The story written afterwards is, of course, well known. The Dutchman immediately won his first race in the Red Bull and was also impressive with a lesser car in the subsequent seasons. Verstappen praises himself and is now happy with the position he is in and stresses again that everything has to come together at the right moments. "If the car is not competitive, then you're not winning races or championships. So it all needs to come together. I was well aware of that when I got into it because that's just how Formula 1 works. So yeah, of course, back then I wouldn't have imagined anything like this."