Verstappen's approach praised: 'He knows exactly how to deal with the regulations'
Stephen Knowles, as Senior Race Strategy Engineer for Red Bull Racing, accompanies Max Verstappen to the stewards. And he has now revealed how well the Red Bull Racing driver can cope with the rules.
Stephen Knowles, in his role as Senior Race Strategy Engineer, accompanies Max Verstappen to the stewards, among other things. This was previously the role of Jonathan Wheatley. The Brit of the Austrian race team spoke on The Inside Track podcast about his relationship with the four-time world champion.
Red Bull boss Knowles discusses his relationship with Verstappen
“He's really good,” Knowles began. “He's probably how he comes across really. He's very direct. A lot has been made that's very true that he has a huge capacity.
"So when he's driving the car, he can also take on board a lot of variables in terms of strategy and been thinking about alterations to the setup and his various tools.”
The sports director believes that the way Verstappen sometimes just manages to use the rules, actually makes him a stronger driver.
“He's got a really, really good understanding of sporting regs and the driving guidelines.
"And I know that's also been covered a lot in that he's kind of made an art form of learning exactly what you can and cannot do, what you should and should not do and really exploiting that.
“And sometimes, maybe splits opinion, but I think that's an area that is an area of performance like anything else.
"I think the rules that we go racing are part of the sporting landscape. And making the most out of that is a big part, big area of performance in the same way as raw pace is.”
Knowles can also really appreciate the Dutchman's way of communicating. “He takes a lot on board. We have very honest chats. He's not the kind of person that you need to skirt around the issue with. You can be very direct, which I really appreciate,” said Knowles.
The last time Knowles had to go to the stewards with Verstappen was in Hungary. The Dutchman then had to report for an overtaking majnoeuvre on Lewis Hamilton. In the end, the stewards decided not to impose a penalty for the incident.
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