How do you handle this crazy

pressure, bro? Like on the global stage? I don't know.

It's just something you're...

I mean, we're introduced to it from such a young age, especially with Red Bull.

I think I'm almost grateful that... always picked up by rebel at a young age and you're put under the spotlight and under the pressure from 16 years old you have you know guys you have helmet marker calling you putting pressure on you if you don't win your next race you're out of the program like that kind of pressure at 16 which used to freak me out and i think you sort of get built for it and you get to formula one it's a massive step but it's almost prepared you for it so um yeah it's very hard it's definitely something that we spend a lot of time working on i've had uh like a performance coach since i was very young that's been with me um on a mental side and it's yeah it's it's pretty brutal

can i ask um you know like i know it's tough driving f1 but as a dad now i have to teach my daughter to drive and that's a stressful occasion i mean i'm not going 200 cases now what's advice you can give me to pass on to her because i get very anxious

She's a learning driver.

Honestly, I think it's so valuable that you go to Hampton Downs, they have that concrete skid pan and it's super slippery.

Yeah.

So that made it hard for sure.

Um, but it was just the preparation that we, we, we, I don't think did a good job at all.

But then, you know, maybe I could have done a better job as well.

And then Melbourne was, um, we m- you know, I had missed P3 with a engine issue, um, which we had planned to do two soft tire runs before quali.

So I kind of went into quali with no soft tire running, and then I made mistakes, and that's where, okay, I was unprepared going in, but I tried to make up for it, and locked up, went off, which I never do.

Like, it was just stupid mistakes that I never do.

What did that tell you about the culture that you were in at Red Bull?

Someone's gonna be coming on Beyond the Grid later in the year, a former champion, um, a great observer of racing drivers. I've already done the interview. It was over the winter. And he was out in Bahrain last year and he was watching Max, and I said, "Well, what do you think stands out when you, when you're watching from the outside?" And I think he was at turn 10 in Bahrain, and he said, "It's like he can feel what the car is doing just before Checo. It's like his bum is so sensitive. There's something about it that he knows what it's doing earlier than anyone else." Does that make any sense to you, that comment?

For sure it does. There's no situation where you're really ever driving the same car lap to lap. You always got differences, differences in temperatures, tires wearing, and you're, uh, d- depending on what compound you're on, wind direction changes. Everything, everything's always variable in Formula 1. It's changing lap to lap, literally, and corner to corner. So there's a part of driving a Formula 1 car that is not just as simple as doing what is said on a graph, and basically this is how you drive it and this is what you do. Obviously, we're, we're studying these small details to, to put a better lap together, but there's a part of driving a Formula 1 car that's adapting. Corner to corner, lap to lap, you are feeling, this is a huge part of it, that's, that's what you're feeling. And s- you're getting different sensations depending on all these different variables lap to lap. So it does because you're always adapting and depending on how quickly you can adapt. And I think that's why when it's, when it clearly, you know, you get big changes, whether it's wet or mixed conditions. It's even like lap one of a session, if you watch a free practice session, normally he'll go out and be quickest out the box regardless of how the session ends. It's just that adapting, that feeling, and it's that confidence that basically he has that confidence to throw a car into a corner and feel basically exactly what it's gonna do. It's just adapting, I think, is what he's very good at.

... this year. What is it? Nearly a third of the grid is, is new. Why do you think that is?

Luckily, you know, for me, luckily, I had a shot in F1 that, that gave me my, you know, it gave me a chance to... 'cause at the end of the day, Formula 1 teams, you can do a great thing over the years, and I think in the, in the, you know, ignore the last 12 months, if you look before that, you could have great seasons of F2 and F3 and, and, and whatever. But to- for a team to trust you to drive their, their c- Formula 1 is so different, it doesn't relate to any other category. Especially, you know, F2 and F3, they're actually... there's no really a single thing you do driving an F2 car that relates to an F1 car, other than turning a steering wheel, honestly. Um, but the way you do it is totally different and the detail and the how technical it is and, and I think it was hard maybe for teams to trust youth over experience. And then we had these occasions where I got my shot as a reserve, Ollie got his shot as a reserve, and it opened people's eyes maybe to, you know, we spent hours and hours and hours in these simulators and with the team preparing for this, that maybe we are actually ready for it and can, you know, be trusted in this sort of situation. So I think maybe that's why there's been a bit of a shift. But it's so hard, you know, there's 20 seats and so many people that are pushing towards Formula 1, to get that opportunity is extremely rare.

But how are you? Just a quick word on, on the whole evening, uh, as, as you embark on your first full season in Formula 1.

Yeah, I mean, lots of excitement. Obviously, a lot of new things. Um, this event is something new for, for the sport, which is exciting. And then obviously, for me, I'm going into my first full season as a, as an F1 driver, so, um, lots of new, exciting things.

Shall we describe what you're wearing? It's jeans and a... It's a sort of lumberjack shirt really, isn't it?

It's a pair of my jeans. It's a sick outfit. Um, I just, compared to the suits, maybe we, we underestimated a little bit. But, um, yeah, it's obviously a very cool event, um, and, uh, yeah, I'm excited to go in.