ISTANBUL, Nov 13 — Max Verstappen said yesterday that he would rather his head fall off than be teased by his father for using neck padding to survive the brutal G-forces expected at the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix this weekend.
Red Bull’s Dutch tyro said he had no intention of giving his father Jos any excuse to poke fun at him by giving in to the forces awaiting him on turn eight, which will generate up to 5G of load for around six seconds.
That’s enough to be a major concern to most drivers and their teams, with many ready to fit extra cockpit padding as neck rests, but Verstappen said he will have none of it.
“I remember my very first F3 test. After one day, I couldn’t hold my neck straight and then I had to put the padding in — and my dad was laughing at me for using that,” he said.
“Since that day, I refused to put padding next to my head. I prefer that my head falls off than I’m running with padding. So, it will be the same also this weekend.”
His softly-spoken team-mate Alexander Albon, who has been warned to raise his game if he wants to retain his job, isn’t planning on copying Verstappen, saying that “I prefer that my head doesn’t fall off”.
Renault’s Esteban Ocon is going for the same set up as Verstappen, however, despite expecting the turn to “kill my neck”.
“My engineer asked if I wanted to have padding, but I’m going without — let’s try it,” he said.
Ocon’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo agreed: “My engineer asked me the same question. I laughed him off so now we’ll see if my confidence comes back to bite me.” — AFP
