‘In the beginning they looked at me funny because I was positive about Verstappen'

In an interview with Formula 1 Magazine, German former pit reporter Kai Ebel has been looking back on his time on the grid and with German television. He also explained the strong relationship he built up at the time with the Verstappens and the Dutch Formula 1 world.

Ebel stateed that he is not only a fan of the younger Verstappen, but also immediately felt a bond with his father Jos when he entered Formula 1. As quoted by Formule1.nl: “When Jos Verstappen entered Formula 1, he was my guy. I always liked Jos, knew how hard he had it at Benetton next to Michael Schumacher . We have always kept in touch, occasionally meeting in private in Mönchengladbach.”

“It's important in your work that you get on with people and have a bit of fun with them. The Verstappen family belongs to that category. We've been out many nights and believe me, we've had a lot of fun."

Always positive about Max

"In the beginning I was looked at strangely by many colleagues, because I was always very positive about Max. They were often more negative, saying he made too many mistakes."

Ebel continued: “About Schumi, colleagues said he was tough, but Max was called Mad Max. I just didn't think that was fair. Max is also very tough and by now everyone knows how good he is.”