"yeah, i've spoken with him about it. i'm actually excited for him. i think it's a big change in the formula 1 grid but also for his life. it's a new era. he's still motivated and he wants to get back to the top. i think it's gonna be really nice to follow. it will be initially quite strange, seeing lewis in red, but people will get used to it."
val speaking about lewis on beyond the grid! the way he did not hesitate for a second when calling lewis the quickest driver on the grid π₯Ί (transcript below)
tom: maldonado, massa, hamilton. come on, who is the quickest of that lot?
val: lewis. i think he is still the quickest driver on the grid.
tom: you think he's quicker than max and charles - still the main man?
val: yeah. to me he's the fastest.
tom: what was he doing that massa and maldonado and zhou aren't? when you look at the data.
val: well, first of all, annoyingly talented. on top of that, works hard. works way harder than people actually think outside the race weekends and in the race weekends. quiteΒ often the last person to leave from the paddock, of the drivers. it's just that combination and he's got big, big drive inside him to always deliver and do well. his average baseline performance is so good that he's really consistent as well. makes him hard to beat. (β¦)
tom: do you still have a lot of contact with lewis?
val: yeah, we still have a good friendship i would say. this season, we travelled with him a couple of times. we always have a good laugh.