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Max Verstappen

Verstappen reflects on maiden Red Bull victory: 'Turn 4 was a beautiful corner!'

The three-time world champion reflected on his maiden win at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which set him on the path to glory with Red Bull.

Verstappen Spanje 2016
Article
To news overview © Getty Images/Red Bull Contentpool

Max Verstappen has reflected on his first Formula 1 win, on his debut for Red Bull driver at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Prior to the weekend, Verstappen was promoted from Toro Rosso to the senior team, with the unlucky Danill Kvyat going the other way in a demotion.

While the Russian would take 10th place in Barcelona, Verstappen would stun with victory fending off Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari for most of the race to become the youngest-ever Grand Prix winner at 18 years, 228 days old.

In what was just his second season of F1, Verstappen has reflected on the "insane" build-up to, and then the actual race itself.

"It was pretty insane, joining the team the week before, going through simulator sessions that I had to do, getting used to the car the procedures - it's like a little booklet," Verstappen recalled, speaking to the Talking Bull podcast.

"I honestly had no expectations going into the weekend. At the time I was like: 'Well, I need to learn so many things' - it is the pressure of being in a top team.

"You can't just hide anymore in like a bad weekend or a bad result. I drove out of the pits and it was a completely different car for me in FP1.

"So it was all about getting used to the car, getting on top of the tools, the balance, a lot of things, the engine was different."

Verstappen: Turn four was a beautiful corner

The start of the race was one of the most controversial moments during the season, when title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided just four corners into the race and wiped each other out.

Verstappen's victory was of course made possible by the iconic collision between Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Turn 4 that took both out and opened the race up.

The Dutchman was put onto a two-stopper along with Raikkonen while team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, respectively were on threes - with the former ultimately turning out the fastest way.

"Turn four was a beautiful corner that day on Lap 1 where the two Mercedes cars just speared off the road," he quipped.

"Then I knew: 'Okay, you might be on the podium here today' If I'm holding on in the race, because it was my first proper race in this car, so it was definitely a bit different to what I was used to in terms of speed.

"I had to keep Kimi behind for quite a few laps and I definitely felt like, with a few laps to go, I was getting quite nervous.

"I was like: 'I can't make a mistake, this is going to be my first one. I can't lock up. I can't do anything wrong here,' and I kept telling myself that until the last lap.

" I crossed the line and won the race and I think GP [Gianpiero Lambiase] was completely shocked. I remember the radio messages like: 'Yeah, I can't believe this.

"My dad was there and I think he was even more nervous than me, because apparently during the race, he started bleeding out of his nose because he was that nervous!"

			© XPBimages
	© XPBimages

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