General

Verstappen: "Communication is key in these conditions"

12 July 2020 at 09:30
Last update 12 July 2020 at 11:52
  • GPblog.com

During a wet qualification or race, visibility is sometimes reduced to zero. Max Verstappen therefore doesn't mind when his team engineer talks to him during the session.

With the onboard cameras it is nowadays good to see what drivers can see during a wet qualifying session: almost nothing. Due to the enormous amounts of water that are sprayed up by drivers, visibility is sometimes extremely poor.

Communication with the team is therefore important for drivers, but in the meantime they also need to concentrate on driving. "I think we communicate more in the lap before you want to do your best lap, or whatever, towards the end of the session", Max Verstappen explained during the press conference after qualifying.

Communication is key

"You keep communicating a lot but of course the engineer sometimes stays quiet in the middle of the lap, for example, but it can happen, if people are backing off towards the end of the lap, they tell you. But it’s good. I don’t mind when they are talking to me", the Dutchman continues.

"I know it’s tricky conditions but it’s also good to know what’s happening around you in terms of lap times, gaps in front, gaps behind, because you can’t see anything. Also in your mirrors. In the wet you can take them off – it doesn’t really make a difference. So yeah, communication is, of course, key in these kinds of conditions," concludes Verstappen.