F1 folk: A journey from Alonso's kart mechanic to Verstappen's F1 tutor

Adria, a very small track in northern Italy, just about a hundred kilometres from Faenza, and we are testing one of the old Toro Rosso cars, with the Ferrari engine, with a kid that Helmut Marko has been talking about since early summer: "There's this guy, Max Verstappen, who's doing his first year in single-seaters, let's do a test with him."

When I first heard about this idea, I said: "Huh, from a go-kart to F1?" You know, easy, Helmut, easy... But here we are, testing with a 16-year-old who hasn't even got his driving licence.

Adria is a very small circuit, just 1.6 miles long, with Mickey Mouse corners, pretty much like a go-kart track. But it's still a Formula 1 car, and on top of that the track is a bit damp after last night's rain. He comes out of the garage and, bloody hell, he's pushing straight away. Flat out. 

I remember Franz Tost hovering over the pitlane as he came down the main straight, waving his hands up and down: easy, Max, easy, slow down. But it was clear to all of us that the kid’s got some skills!

Anyway, it was just Adria. I thought, "If we want to be sure, we need to test him on a proper track". I remember saying to Helmut, "If you really want to see how good this guy is, let's do FP1 at Suzuka. Then we'll know for sure." There's no better test than Suzuka. Fast, flowing corners, gravel traps. Real big balls!

He came to the factory and, I tell you, we spent hours and hours together going through things. I mean, a year ago this guy was racing go-karts! So I explained how the race weekend works, how the sessions work, everything from an out-lap to the way he needs to give his feedback. And he just listened. Very quietly, not saying much. I remember thinking, 'Is he actually getting anything?' - because I've worked with a lot of young drivers before: sometimes they just tell you they understand, but they don't.

But at Suzuka you didn't have to tell him or remind him. He just nailed it. After the first few runs, nobody had any questions. The skill, the speed, the commitment, the understanding. We just knew: this is the guy you want in your car, 100%. But of course, Helmut had already signed him for 2015.

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Pujolar recognised that Verstappen was a special talent from his first FP1 outing at Suzuka in 2014

My dream and first goal was to work with motorbikes. But that was going nowhere, so when a friend of mine told me about an opportunity to work with a go-kart team, I agreed. They were looking for someone to work on their engines - so I did a few regional races with them until one day they told me: "You must come with us to Madrid. We've got this guy, Fernando Alonso, and he's very impressive!"

Indeed he was. In those days he was so small he couldn't even reach his pedals, so we had to put in some spacers for him. The track had very little grip, but the way he drove - if you watched motorbike racing in the late 1980s you'll understand what I mean - he was like Kevin Schwantz but with a go-kart. Always sideways. So spectacular!

I did a few more races with him, in Spain and then in Europe. I remember we had to calm him down a bit. Because in Spain - with hard tyres and low-grip tracks - his style was perfect. But, with better tyres and more rubber on a track, that was just too aggressive, he'd be killing his tyres in three laps. So he had to adapt, but he was still very quick. We'd only done a handful of races together, but we crossed paths a lot more after that, although always fighting against each other!

Helmut gave us free apartments in Graz because he has a lot of businesses there, he owns hotels, bars, clubs - basically half the city. If we wanted to go out partying, we'd just say 'we work for Helmut' - and all the doors were open to us

By then my focus had changed completely. I wanted to get into F1 and I was really determined. So I worked with another go-kart team in Spain at the same time, just to learn as much as I could, and then I got an offer from France - to work with a guy called Benoit Garnier, a very fast French driver - and I moved to Paris with the idea that I'd eventually meet someone to take the next step and get closer to F1. It was the mid-1990s, no mobile phones, no internet - and how do you get in touch with F1 teams from Spain? It's not like you pick up a phone book and start calling them. No, I had to make more connections.

We won the French championship and were competing at the European level against the likes of Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica, and then through Benoit's father I met some engineers from Formula 3000 - a championship I'd even work for free! Eventually, one of them offered me to join a new team, G-Tec, that they were starting from scratch in Spain, in Formula Nissan. And that's what we did.

In the second year we were fighting for the championship against none other than Alonso. He won, but I would say we had the best car - because we also had a guy who had previously worked with Mercedes in the International Touring Car Championship as chief engineer, he had experience in F3 - and it was him who put me in touch with Helmut Marko.

I always enjoyed working with Helmut. He was very transparent, very straightforward, very direct. And if you were the same, you never had a problem with him. He gave me a lot of confidence. At that time I was very young, very inexperienced, but I had full trust to do things that I felt were right. Of course, with him you have to deliver - you know his style, don't you? - but if you delivered, he always rewarded you with respect and full trust. If I needed anything, I'd just call him and he'd always pick up the phone. And even now, 25 years later, I feel I can call him at any time and I'll hear the same Helmut I met back then.

Photo by: Lorenzo Bellanca / Motorsport Images

Pujolar's big break came when he joined RSM Marko in Formula 3000, which proved his big ticket to F1

My English was bad. I still don't know how I managed it, but after the first Formula 3000 test I did with his team, RSM Marko, he asked me to stay on for a full season. I was based in Spain, I was doing actually three championships in one season, Formula Nissan, F3000 and I was still doing some work for a go-kart team, just because I wanted to learn as quickly as possible. But then he told me: "Forget those guys, Xevi, come to Austria". There was another team in F3000 that offered me a job, but he just gave me a better offer.

It was a great time. Helmut gave us free apartments in Graz because he has a lot of businesses there, he owns hotels, bars, clubs - basically half the city. We were young, and if we wanted to go out partying, we'd just say 'we work for Helmut' - and all the doors were open to us.

I spent three years with his team, from 1999 to 2001. We had Ricardo Mauricio and Enrique Bernoldi driving for us, and at that time we had a connection with Sauber through Red Bull because they were sponsoring the team, so we used their facilities sometimes. I went to Hinwil - which was amazing because my goal was still to get into F1 - and I used that opportunity to meet Willy Rampf, who was the technical director at Sauber at the time. I remember telling him, "Look, Willy, if there is an opening, I really want it" - and it eventually came up for 2001.

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So I went to Helmut at the end of 2000 and told him I wanted to leave for Sauber. He knew I wanted to be in F1. But that was when the relationship between him and the team started to go wrong. He wanted Bernoldi in one of their cars, but they signed Kimi Raikkonen. So he said: "No, don't go there now. I need you to stay with us for another year, we've got Patrick Friesacher and I want you to work with him. But I'll help you get into F1 later."

It was hard to say no to F1. I thought, 'Damn, this could be the opportunity of my life here'. This was my dream. But I stayed on for another year because Helmut gave me his word - and you can always trust that. I also enjoyed that year. I think Patrick did a good job, I liked working with him, but when the season was over I came back to Helmut. "I've done another year. Now you have to help me." And he called Niki Lauda right away: "Niki, I've got a guy for you."

I had an interview with him and their chief engineer at Jaguar and ended up getting the job in F1.

But that first year at Jaguar... I was shocked. I didn't know what to think. Everything I had learned about racing cars, from go-karts to F3000s, was somehow irrelevant. Some basic things about how to operate cars and make them go fast were being ignored.

I was working with Eddie Irvine and he was really difficult to communicate with, there were a lot of political games and then the technical director left and another one came in. I was convinced we could do better, but everyone was living in a cloud, completely detached from reality. These guys were crazy. I thought, "Is this really F1? Or am I just in the wrong place?"

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Pujolar's first year in Formula 1 working with Jaguar in 2002 was a trying one

It turned out I was. At the end of 2002 I was on my way out. Williams were looking for a performance engineer for Juan Pablo Montoya's car and I managed to get that job. So I left the Jaguar factory on a Friday night and turned up at Grove the following Monday. And that second year in F1 was great! Everything suddenly made sense and everything was working the way it was supposed to. We finished on the podium in our first race and then we ended up fighting for the championship!

Those years with JPM and Ralf Schumacher were probably my best in F1. And I really think we should have won the championship. We had a tyre advantage with Michelin at the beginning of the year, and I think we were on the right track with the development of the car, so everything was going well - until we had to change tyres.

I think Bridgestone and Ferrari were putting some pressure - so before Monza they'd changed the casing and we started to lose ground. We thought we didn't win the championship because we were too young as a team - and looking back, even though I thought I had learned a lot over the years, I really knew nothing. I think we could have done better. And there was this internal battle between JPM and Ralf, which probably didn't help either. They both wanted to win so badly that every debrief was like a fight!

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But, for me, I was living my dream. I was never at home. Not only did I do all the races as a performance engineer, I also did all the tests, every single one of them - just because I wanted to get as much track experience as possible. The track was my home.

I could spend hours with [Alex Wurz] talking about set-up directions, tyres, car balance and things like that. He had such a deep understanding of the car that it was like talking to my performance engineer

After a few tests I asked them if I could run a car myself - and they gave me a car. I worked as a performance engineer at the track, and then eventually, after Ralf's crash at Indianapolis in 2004, Sam Michael, who became the team's technical director that year, said: "OK, I think you're ready to be a race engineer. When Ralf comes back, you'll be running his car".

Marc Gene replaced him for the first couple of races, then we had Antonio Pizzonia, so I worked with that car to get ready to work with Ralf - and then we spent the rest of the year with him, got a podium in Japan, and then he was off to Toyota. And I continued to run that car with Mark Webber, Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima.

I loved working with the drivers. I think I learned a lot from each one of them. JPM was an amazing character. He was always challenging me, "Don't be afraid, let's try something else" - and when it didn't work out, he would get quite emotional. But he was always pushing the people around him, motivating them to go further, which was incredible for me as a young engineer. We had a lot of tools to play with - traction control, differentials, engine braking - to help him drive, so we spent a lot of hours discussing and experimenting. And it was a great experience.

Photo by: Sutton Images

Michael recognised Pujolar's qualities and elevated him to the position of race engineer at the end of 2004

Ralf was a completely different character. Very reserved with people from the outside. But, when you worked for him, he was a completely different person. Very open, very supportive. And I had a very good relationship with him. I think I also understood what he needed from the car.

With Mark it probably didn't work out the way it should have. He came in to win races and fight for championships, but the car was already not good enough. He's the kind of guy who always wants to help move things forward, wants to contribute, wants to share his views - and maybe the team wasn't always ready for that.

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Perhaps Williams was a bit special in that respect. Like, 'OK, we know how to do it, you're here to drive' - and maybe that's why it didn't really click with him. But I have a lot of respect for him because the guy was super fast, especially in one lap. We had a one-lap qualifying at that time and he's got a special ability for that - he could just do it like nobody else.

Alex was different too. I could spend hours with him talking about set-up directions, tyres, car balance and things like that. He had such a deep understanding of the car that it was like talking to my performance engineer, going into the smallest details. And he was a guy who'd survive anything in the race. If there was chaos, you could count on Alex to come out with a great result.

We had a podium in Canada when Kubica crashed in 2007, and we were very close to the podium again at the Nurburgring - in that race where almost half the grid lost their cars in Turn 1 in the rain. Alex finished fourth, but he was chasing Webber in a Red Bull and would have passed him if the race had been one lap longer.

And then Kazuki Nakajima, who we got as part of the Toyota deal, was also incredible. He came from GP2, he was a rookie, and I've never seen anyone work as hard as he did. We did a lot of sim work. I've never done as much simulator work as I did with Kazuki. And I also learned a lot from him because he comes from a different culture. He worked extremely hard. We did qualifying runs, endless race simulations, and even things like pitstops, from entering the pitlate to stopping into the box.

Then I left for Hispania. We had some disagreements with Sam and, to be honest, I also never felt comfortable living in the UK. Whenever I had a free weekend I went back to Spain, so this project also felt like a dream. To be based in Valencia and run F1 from there... it's just fantastic, isn't it?

Photo by: James Moy

Pujolar's dream of working with a Spanish-based team quickly descended into a nightmare as Hispania existed in a state of chaos

But, once I started, the dream was not so much a dream. First, I agreed to join the team with Adrian Campos and he was out before it even started. Then the plan to have a base in Spain was dropped, suddenly Colin Kolles was in charge and pretty soon it became clear that it was going nowhere. There was no money. I remember getting my flight confirmations two or three days before I was due to leave, I didn't know if my hotel had been paid for or not. By June I was basically working from home and, after the summer break, I knew I had to escape.

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I called Sam Michael again. I'd heard there was a chance they might sign Pastor Maldonado, and I felt that after a couple of tough years, a guy like Pastor - young and passionate, a bit like JPM - might actually help them move forward. So we agreed with Michael to give it another go and I moved back to the UK.

With Pastor it clicked straight away. He is just a great guy. When he came to England he stayed with us sometimes. We had dinner together, he played with my daughter and he is still a good friend. He's such a warm and nice guy to be around. And he was also very quick. I think people don't realise how fast he was, but he's definitely one of the fastest guys I've ever worked with.

Pastor was a machine at times! He was able to do qualifying laps that were just unbelievable

In 2011 it was a difficult year, but in 2012 he showed some incredible performances. It was all about the tyres, these Pirellis, and I think we found something that worked for Pastor. The window where everything just clicked for him. He had such an understanding of these tyres that we knew, at least in qualifying, what was ideal for him. I remember even people in the team were sceptical, saying "come on, this is bullshit" - but the step up in performance we were able to make was just incredible.

And that's what got us the win in Barcelona. He did an incredible lap in qualifying, and when Lewis Hamilton got excluded, we were on pole. And I'll never forget our conversation on the grid. I myself was really worried about the first lap, how we were going to survive it, especially with Fernando - of course it was him - in P2.

So when we met on the grid, on pole, I tried to give him some advice. "So, Pastor, for the start and the first lap we need..." - and he tapped me on the shoulder, looked me in the eyes and said: "Xevi, about the first lap, don't worry. I will be the first one out of Turn 1. And I'm going to win this race." It wasn't me who reassured him. It was the other way round. He was so bloody confident. I just said, "OK then. Let's do it."

And we did it. Against Ferrari, against all these top teams that have huge operations rooms at their base. At Williams, it was basically just me, Pastor and a strategy engineer to decide the strategy and a guy at home to help us execute it - and we still beat them.

Pastor was a machine at times! He was able to do qualifying laps that were just unbelievable. And we certainly deserved a much better position in the championship. But the thing about him was that sometimes, at the most unexpected moment, he'd just go off, crash on the lap to the grid or something like that. We lost a P5 in Melbourne when he touched the grass on the last lap while fighting with Fernando and hit the wall. We lost a podium at Valencia when he crashed with Lewis. At Spa, he qualified well but jumped the start. And we also had some bad luck, as well.

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A memorable victory with Maldonado at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix stands out as a career highlight for Pujolar

After a difficult 2013, which was a complete disaster for Williams, I was ready for a new challenge. I knew Franz Tost from the old Williams days, because he was part of the BMW operation, and he actually wanted me and Andreas Seidl, who was working with us as an engine engineer at the time, to come to Toro Rosso. And I finally joined in 2014, first to work with Jean-Eric Vergne. But this whole Faenza chapter of my career has been about Max.

Going into 2015, we all knew we had a gem. During the winter, he just absorbed the information. Obviously there was simulator work, but we also went through all sorts of scenarios that could happen during the race weekend, with examples, with data - that was the only way we could prepare him for the start of the season. But there's always a risk that you can just overload the guy and he collapses. Max never did that. He always wanted to know more and we gave him more and more until he became a machine.

It wasn't just him. There was also Jos pushing from behind. Sure, Max got some criticism from the outside, but he is the way he is because Jos taught him the way he did. Of course it hasn't been an easy journey, but if you want to be the best it's got to be tough. And I have a lot of respect for all of them, not only Max and Jos, but also Raymond Vermeulen, his manager. They are like a gang and they have total trust, also with Helmut, within the group. And for me it was a great privilege to witness that and to be part of that ride.

Max is for sure something special. He's the best driver I've ever worked with. He works hard. And he pays so much attention to detail... even more than I ever did with JPM. He's got an Alex Wurz level of understanding of the car. But he's got a talent like no other. And he's incredibly competitive. He wanted to destroy Carlos Sainz in every session that year. And what he achieved was very special.

With Max it's all about racing. You go to dinner with him and he'll talk about racing. He goes home and does sim racing at home... I remember it was back then when he started to get serious about it. He told me at the beginning of the year that he had met this guy, Atze Kerkhof, and that they were working together, using all the different tools, playing with set-ups - because he wanted to get better and practice more. He told me at the beginning that there was no chance of him being at their level in the near future, but it didn't take long for him to be able to race with them. And it was before Spa when he told me they were practising overtaking in the Blanchimont corner with Atze - and of course he went on to execute it in an F1 race, passing Felipe Nasr.

I knew it wouldn't last long. But I was still hoping to finish 2016 with him, until he called me on Tuesday after the race in Sochi: "Xevi, I've just met with Helmut and I'll be with Red Bull for the next race." And that was the end for me, not only with Max, but also with Toro Rosso.

Let's just say there was a lot going on in the background, we had some internal issues that weekend in Russia as well, and I just knew there was no chance of me staying with the team. So I got in touch with Helmut and he helped me get a position at Sauber - and I wasn't blocked by Toro Rosso to join the new team straight away.

Photo by: Sutton Images

Pujolar regards Verstappen as the most special driver he's worked with from their time at Toro Rosso

That was it, 15 years later, since Helmut stopped me from going there, it was him who helped me get the deal with Monisha Kaltenborn - and later I even got the chance to work with Kimi! And he is also a very special character. His ability to adapt to new conditions is so impressive. If we had a whole championship with new tracks and no simulator to prepare the drivers, he'd win it. Nobody else would have a chance.

We also had Charles Leclerc and it was very nice to see his progress throughout the year he spent with us: the way he challenged himself, tried to improve and was always very self-critical - it was also very motivating for the whole team. And it was nice to see him at Ferrari, right from the start, so competitive against a guy like Sebastian Vettel. I think we have prepared him well!

I have always enjoyed working with drivers, but at some point I wanted to step up and work more with the organisation

It's been a good journey so far. A couple of team principals have changed, as well as a couple of technical directors, so it has been a bumpy road, but the future looks bright.

For me, it has also been a chance to use my experience in a new role, as I have taken on the position of racing director, with more responsibility. I have always enjoyed working with drivers, but at some point I wanted to step up and work more with the organisation. I have the luxury of having the experience of going through all the steps, from go-karts to lower categories to F1, so I can now try to achieve my new goal of building the best race team in the pitlane.

It's an ambitious goal, but you must always dream big.

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

Pujolar is enjoying being part of the evolving Sauber operation, which will become Audi's works team in 2026