One of essentially the most surreal information on the planet of motor racing occurred throughout this vacation interval for F1 drivers. And the perfect factor is that it’s associated to the primary star of the competitors, Max Verstappen.
The three-time world champion, who wiped his opponents off the map with a relentless succession of exhibitions, encountered an sudden shock earlier than arriving on the Autodromo Internacional Do Algarve. It was a completely sudden defeat.
And we already know that the good competitor from the Netherlands just isn’t used to dropping. Let’s keep in mind that in 2023 he took 19 victories out of a potential 22. And, in fact, he doubled in factors the second-placed Checo Perez, who needed to accept being runner-up, 290 factors behind his storage neighbor. The beating shall be a kind of that shall be remembered eternally and ever.
Nothing is past the attain of the Dutch star, at the very least so far as the Grand Prix is worried. At 26 years of age, he already has 54 victories. In different phrases, he’s the third most profitable driver in historical past. He’s nonetheless a great distance behind Lewis Hamilton (1st with 103) and Michael Schumacher (2nd with 91). But when he continues on the tempo of the final three seasons (10+15+19), he’ll quickly be alone on the summit.
He couldn’t hire the sports activities automobile he needed
The very fact is that that is what occurred throughout competitors, however through the obligatory winter break an uncommon occasion occurred. The Dutchman was unable to drive a Mercedes-AMG GT rental as a result of he was too younger.
Verstappen went to Portugal, the place he had rented the Portimao circuit (Portugal) to have a great time together with his family and friends. When he landed at Faro Airport, he went to the Sixt counter, the corporate he selected to hire the autos he wanted. And that is when he was met with the disagreeable shock that he was not allowed to take the Mercedes-AMG GT he had demanded. The reason being mind-boggling. Insurance coverage requires drivers to be at the very least 30 years outdated, and as everybody is aware of Max is barely 26.
Max could not consider it
The Solar newspaper revealed that Verstappen was shocked when he was informed he couldn’t hire the automobile he had ordered. Then a Sixt spokesman emphasised that the staff had made a logical determination contemplating that he would have violated the established guidelines. In the long run, Sixt gave him the choice of borrowing “one other premium automobile” and Max selected a BMW 5 Sequence, a much less highly effective automobile, which may attain 250 km/h (155 mph).
