© Vladimir Rys

Max's RB16B Debrief: "I Want To Do My Talking On Track"We sit down with Max following his first drive in in the RB16B.

Ask Max about his downtime over the winter and the Dutchman talks about Christmas with family (“to catch up after such a long, short season”) then returning to Monaco and doing a lot of training. “Training is not so exciting, but it’s necessary,” he says.

Ask Max about driving the RB16B at our recent filming day, however, and suddenly things become a lot more animated.

The first time you go out of the pits is always such a great feeling.

“It’s always good to be back in the car,” he smiles. “I like the break but once you’re standing here and you see the car ready to go, you’re just itching to get back in, especially to get into a Formula One car. The first time you go out of the pits is always such a great feeling. Now, I’m just looking forward to race weekends again.”

Max In The RB15 At Silverstone© Getty Images

Max’s return to the wheel involved an afternoon getting a first feel for the RB16B, alongside a morning driving the 2019 RB15, and the Dutchman thinks the contrast between the two cars and his recollections of the feel of RB16 provided valuable knowledge.

“Initially I started with the RB15 to just get into it again after the break, to get a few laps in and then I jumped into the RB16B,” he says. “It was a filming day but it’s useful to get comfortable with the car, with the engine and trying to make things run smoothly and try to be the best prepared you can be to go testing in Bahrain.

There are changes and you can feel the difference to last year.

“There are changes and you can feel the difference to last year,” he adds. “The floor is quite different and so the car is always going to behave differently. But filming days are not about set-up work as that will be done in Bahrain.’

ListenToMaxAndChecoOnTalkingBull

While the first taste of the RB16B focused Max’s gaze on the opening race of the season, he’s aware that before the heat of battle the test at the Bahrain International Circuit awaits.

Bahrain is going to be important to get a lot of miles on the car and get comfortable with it.

“I’m always excited for race weekends but first we have the three test days in Bahrain and so it’s going to be important to get a lot of miles on the car and get comfortable with it, so you can start the first race weekend as best prepared as you can be.”

Eyes On The Prize In 2021© Vladimir Rys

However, unlike many of his peers he’s not too disappointed that this year F1’s pre-season test schedule has been cut in half to just three days.

“Yeah, it’s going to be short – one and a half days each for the drivers – but I like that,” he insists. “I thought six days was a lot, I mean, I love driving Formula 1 cars but there’s no competition to it. I’m fine with one and a half days. Of course, I hope the one and a half days I have run smoothly.”

Beyond testing, potentially the largest Formula 1 season ever beckons but while he acknowledges that the calendar is tough, there is every possibility that after being cancelled last year, he will finally get to race on home soil at Zandvoort.

“Twenty-three is a lot of races,” he says. “Let’s see how it goes and let’s hope the calendar will be run as normal and not as compressed as last year."

I really hope that fans can come to the track and that there’s a lot of orange around.

“With regard to the Dutch Grand Prix, I’m not too focussed on Zandvoort… yet. We still need to start the first race. When we get closer and the hype is building up then it’s going to be really nice. I really hope that fans can come to the track and that there’s a lot of orange around.”

Of course, Max will go into the season with a new teammate across the garage and the Dutch driver is sure that Sergio Pérez’s considerable experience will help the Team in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship.

2021 Looks Good On Max© Vladimir Rys

“Sergio has been in F1 now for a while and has proven himself to be a good points scorer and I hope that as a Team we can make it difficult for Mercedes especially, as they are still the favourites,” Max says.

“At the moment we need to focus on the season ahead and try to make that work in the best way possible together with Honda,” Max concludes. “What happens in the future is still a question mark but one thing I know for sure is that everyone is going to give their best and will be pushing flat out to make it work.”