Max Verstappen Says FWD Is 'The Worst Thing Ever,' 'Like Anti-Driving'
Ford Performance published an absolute banger of a video the other day. It's almost 40 minutes of Chris Harris (one of the best car-video hosts working) buzzing around with Max Verstappen (one of the best drivers racing) in some legendary vehicles, nerding out about setups and driving styles. As an aside, Harris asks the Dutch F1 champ how he feels about front-wheel drive, and Verstappen offered a comically candid response.
While cruising around the countryside in an RS200, Harris brought up Verstappen's spectacular save at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, where the Dutchman heroically managed to pull his race car out of a spin in wet conditions. If you haven't seen that, it's an unbelievable illustration of calm under pressure:
'Honestly, that one was like 50/50, 50 luck and 50 skills,' Verstappen recalled, then went on to explain his maneuver. '…as soon as I felt it [traction] was coming back, I knew that just before the barrier, if you release the brakes, then you get the rolling speed of the tire, and you have a bit more—'
'It almost drags you forwards, like front-wheel drive,' Harris said, completing the thought. Then, seeing an opportunity for a fun question, Harris quickly asked: 'Do you like front-wheel drive?'
Verstappen wasted no seconds answering: 'No.'
'No, I think it's really boring,' he elaborated, which is kind of funny since it wasn't that long ago when he was showing off the Honda Civic Type R.
Harris egged him on a little, saying: 'We call it wrong-wheel drive.'
Verstappen went on to say, 'For me, it's just like, anti-driving, you know? … I drove it sometimes on the simulator as well. For me, it's like the worst thing ever.'
Harris snuck in a little more context for us viewers to close the loop: 'Also, what you're asking of the tire, seems a huge burden. It has to steer, and, put the power down.'
That led into an even more interesting discussion of racing style, with Verstappen saying FWD cars need to be driven 'V-style,' which, in simple terms, partially means you need your car to be as straight as possible when you exit a corner.
This exchange takes place around the 14:30 mark of this Ford Performance video, but I strongly recommend you bookmark it and come back when you have time to watch the whole thing.
The front-wheel-drive comment made a funny hook for this blog, but I will admit it's an undersell of what this whole video is: Two driving legends given free rein to nerd out on what they love about going fast and using cars.
Don't get too discouraged by the Flying Dutchman's comments if you're a front-drive fan. Most of us could probably do 1,000 laps around the Nürburgring in a Civic Type R and never get close to the level Verstappen's pushing—just because something doesn't work for his driving style doesn't make it 'wrong.'
But if you can get Chris Harris to make this face in the passenger seat, you get to say whatever you want about cars. Ford Performance
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