Today marks ten years since Max Verstappen made history and achieved his first victory in Formula 1, at the Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona. Frank Woestenburg was there, then as an F1 reporter for De Telegraaf, and looks back in time.
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“Yo hee, Yo hoo, Yo fucking hell how bizarre.” The emotions in the voice are audible as Olav Mol sees Max Verstappen cross the finish line as the winner from his commentary position. On that fifteenth of May 2016, no one in the media center of Circuit de Catalunya remains unaffected by Verstappen’s feat, at that moment 18 years and 228 days old.
Hundreds of journalists are seated in the media center. Among them only a handful of Dutch. Max Verstappen’s GP debut for Red Bull as a replacement for the Russian Daniil Kvyat is big news in Formula 1 and also in the Netherlands, but the sport is not yet so big that all media immediately sent a reporter to Barcelona.
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Kvyat lost his last bit of credit within the team two weeks before Barcelona at his home race in Sochi with a risky move, where he ‘torpedoed’ Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. For Red Bull’s management, it is the proverbial last straw. Kvyat receives the infamous phone call from Helmut Marko the day after the race. He is demoted back to Scuderia Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen takes the opposite route.
Kvyat and Max Verstappen at the press conference in Barcelona
On Thursday in Barcelona, three days before the race, Kvyat and Verstappen see each other for the first time since the ‘swap’. They are both invited by the FIA to join the traditional press conference, sitting next to each other no less. It is a somewhat awkward scene. Kvyat cannot manage a smile, whereas Verstappen says he is happy with the opportunity given to him.
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On Sunday during the race, I sit next to Ivo op den Camp, a widely respected journalist from De Limburger and probably the only person in the paddock who received a card from the Verstappen family in 1997 due to the birth of Max Emilian. ‘If nothing crazy happens anymore, he’s just going to win the race,’ we say to each other early in the race. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have already eliminated each other in the first corner and Verstappen’s tire strategy – a two-stopper – seems to pay off.
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In the final phase of the race, he then calmly keeps Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari behind him for laps. And so after 66 laps and 1:14:40.017 hours, he makes sports history as the youngest F1 winner ever and the first Dutchman as well. Spontaneous applause breaks out in the media center. Ivo and I join in clapping, briefly pat each other on the shoulder, and then quickly sit down. There is typing to be done. And a lot of it.
An engineer with tears running down his cheeks
In the paddock, as a reporter, you gather as many reactions as possible after each race and collect impressions that you can use for your stories. In Barcelona, everyone gathers in front of the Red Bull room. The emotions of Raymond Vermeulen and Jos Verstappen, but also many others within the team, are beautiful to see. A tough Red Bull engineer stares somewhat stunned ahead, while tears run down his cheeks. This is a day when it is allowed.
When I lie in bed late at night (or was it early in the morning?) in my hotel room, it takes a while before I actually fall asleep. In my mind, everything that happened that day at the circuit passes by once more.
Success must be celebrated, Max Verstappen knows
The next morning I am already early at the circuit. I have an appointment with Max Verstappen for a follow-up story. Sitting behind a cappuccino in the Red Bull hospitality area, I see him walking over to a few men from the team who are cleaning up. He shakes everyone’s hand to thank them for their support. He is the man in the spotlight, but they did it together, is what he wants to say. Nice that an eighteen-year-old debutant already realizes that, I think to myself.
Soon after, he joins for the interview. Just like the undersigned, with tired eyes by the way. Max Verstappen also slept little the past night in Barcelona. Success must be celebrated, he knows.
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