Calum Nicholas, engineer at Red Bull Racing speaks in the Pitstop podcast very positive about his working relationship with Max Verstappen. This year, for the first time, the two men of the Austrian racing team are working a lot together on the car. He also has fond memories of last year's GP in Zandvoort.

Nicholas joined Red Bull in 2015. Previously, he worked in the garage on Daniel Ricciardo's side and last year he was mainly working on Sergio Perez's car. This is the first time he has worked closely with Verstappen. Nicholas speaks highly of the relationship he has with Verstappen. "Max is so sound," says the engineer. He points out that Verstappen stops by for a chat every now and then and it's no different. "He'll come around and talk to you and talk like two colleagues would. There is no bulls**t."

Verstappen is known for his honest and serious attitude towards his team, yet there is also room to laugh with the reigning world champion. "Everyone in the team is there to do a job. You can also laugh with him outside of work. It's a very normal mutual relationship."

Hunted

Last season, the engineer and Verstappen went through a busy year. Throughout the season, the Red Bull engineers were continually engaged in the title fight with Mercedes. "Last year was so hard mentally. The back half of last year, I felt like we were being hunted, week on week they were closing this gap. It was tough, the first time in my time I struggled to wind down from it. It was so intense."

Zandvoort

Due to Verstappen's popularity in the Netherlands, Formula 1 returned to Zandvoort. The organisers of the weekend have already received many compliments, but the atmosphere was also well felt in the Red Bull garage. "Zandvoort set a new bar. We go to some wicked places and there's some great atmospheres, but the way they had the crowd going in Zandvoort all weekend set a new bar. It was really intense," Nicholas said.