Vermeulen on Verstappen: "That's actually unthinkable"

Max Verstappen has put Formula 1 back on the map in the Netherlands. But how can one young driver achieve so much in a sport that is so gigantic? Manager Raymond Vermeulen looks back on the first years of Verstappen in F1 with Formule1.nl.

Big team

"We work with a very good club of people; it's not just Jos Verstappen and I who do it", says Vermeulen. "We have people who advise us and help us make the right commercial choices. But if Max drives around like an old grandmother, I can come up with great things, but they won't work."

Vermeulen points out that without the class of Verstappen, the 'brand' Max would never have become so big. According to Vermeulen it is important that you stay close to yourself and do what you are good at. "With Max it's racing and driving quick laps. That's what you have to look for in commerce. Why are there 27,000 Dutch people in Austria? Because they see that Max is the fighting sports hero who has now gone for the win twice on a track that Red Bull Racing is not on."

Dutch Grand Prix

Verstappen has achieved an incredible amount in his career as an F1 driver. "Max Verstappen is the reason that there will be another Dutch Grand Prix", says Vermeulen. "Nothing more and nothing less. It's very strange that a 21, 22 year old guy has managed to do that: all the developments at the Zandvoort circuit are fed by one sportsman in the Netherlands. That's actually unthinkable."

Vermeulen emphasizes that commerce is not the main goal. Sport is always the main goal. "Commerce is a result of sport, but in all our considerations, the sporting aspect takes precedence. If we can make a deal at the expense of the sporting, it will not go ahead. All three of us agree on that. Commercial is fun, but becoming world champion, winning Grand Prix and taking poles is leading."