Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen will have one eye over his shoulder during the Monaco GP as Fernando, ‘The Spanish Samurai’ competes in the Indy 500.
During an interview in the Monaco Paddock, the Dutch teenager admitted that he’ll be very interested to see how his fellow Formula One competitor is doing over in the States at the weekend revealing “Of course, I look at how he is doing”.
The fact that the Asturian was able to take the fifth place on debut during qualification has not been a surprise for Max as he reveals “I knew that Fernando will be strong. It was clear from the start that he would be good, he is a multiple World Formula 1 champion. And if you have a good feeling for racing, it does not really matter which car you are sitting in. ”
“If he were to compete in the Rallycross series, he would be fast.”
Returning to his Monaco prospects, the Red Bull driver has high hopes despite crashing out twice last year.
“We try to stay away from the barriers around the track. Qualifying is very important here, Since it is relatively easy in the race to defend your position”
It will be interesting to see if Max Verstappen can final break his DNF duck at Monaco. He has the unenviable statistic of never actually finishing a race.
With all due respect to Alonso’s qualifying drive – the Andretti team which is supplying / preparing his car, has five cars in the top ten qualifying positions. It would have been a surprise if he hadn’t qualified where he did. And unlike F1, qualifying positions at the Indy 500 have little bearing on the race itself.
Let’s not forget hours and hours of simulator time he’s put in.
That for sure eases the transition.