Max Haas interview
raceroom
We caught up with FR X-90 Monza winner Max Haas for a quick chat before this weekends race around Silvertone.
Q
Max
Thanks a lot! I did not expect to win it, especially as Demian joined the party, Jim and Radek are in top form at the moment and the rest of the field is top notch as well. I practiced quite a lot during the week, as I crashed in the first round and wanted to get a better feel for the car.
It is unbelievably fun to drive, but it also wants to kill you all the time and it is very easy to lose it. I guess these properties usually come together. My excursions into the gravel decreased during the week, but I still decided to stay on the safe side and put more downforce onto the car. I lacked top speed of course, but my lap times were much more consistent and looking at the whole stint, it was quicker at the end. Keeping that beast on the black staff a full hour is pretty hard.
Next consideration was that I will have issues overtaking with that strategy and hence have to start as far at the front as possible. I had a second setup with low downforce ready to go in case the quali’ would not be good. Well, that worked out pretty well with my first pole this year and I continued the strategy! The gap to Radek was almost non-existent though.
Finally I had to push as much as I could at the start and the first laps to build a gap to the rest. Otherwise they would have had an easy time with me on the straight. Well, that worked out perfectly as well and I could even reduce the pace and risk during the race. Funny thing was that Radek and I still competed for the fastest lap during the race. Martin our professional commentator noticed and covered it on the stream, which really surprised me! Radek managed to get the fastest lap several times during the race and I managed to push and reply with a faster time at the following lap each time. The final lap was the quickest again. That was fun!
Q
Max
It is very early in the championship and we still have 2/3 to go. Everything can happen with those cars. It is easy to randomly loose it, close battles are very dangerous and the suspension is made of paper. We unfortunately don't have a full grid this time, but the quality is immense! We really have top drivers here at RRL!
Q
Max
I already practiced in Silversone this week and I really enjoy that combo! I don't think I will be as lucky as in the last run, but I really hope to stay close and compete with the guys. At the end it is not about winning here at RRL! I'm sure most drivers here know exactly what I mean and all others should join us for some races to find out.