After four closely scheduled races following the summer break, Formula 1 has decided to recharge before the American races in October and November. As a result, the championship won’t return to the track until the weekend of October 20th, when the United States Grand Prix will take place at the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. It’s a long period, almost a month of break, giving drivers and team staff a chance to enjoy some vacation time, compared to the usual schedule, and prepare for the final rush of the season.
Time to recharge, but also to dedicate themselves to activities outside of F1, to their passions, and have fun in their own way. Max Verstappen has decided to spend this period differently from his colleagues, still behind the wheel of a race car. Over the past week, he was seen in Italy at Mugello, engaged in an intense testing session with GT3 category cars, a championship he has great interest in. The entire experience was, of course, shared by the three-time world champion through some posts on his social media channels, with photos documenting the day.
Despite being purely for pleasure, the tests were not entirely trivial for the Dutchman, as they took place at the Italian Mugello circuit in very challenging weather conditions, with rain and a constantly changing track, sometimes wet. But Max, of course, wasn’t discouraged and completed the work program of the Verstappen.com Racing team, a team founded by the three-time Formula 1 world champion himself that competes both in real and virtual races (in collaboration with the Redline team) in the famous endurance races in which the Dutchman’s son participates during F1 weekends.
According to the photos posted by the Red Bull driver, Max’s father Jos, who races with the family team in the Belgian rally championship, and Max’s long-time friend Thierry Vermeulen, also a Dutch driver competing in the German DTM championship and son of Raymond Vermeulen, Max Verstappen’s manager, were also present at the testing session in Italy. However, what sparked the most curiosity, especially at a time when there’s much talk about Max Verstappen’s future, with many speculating he might move away from Red Bull, were the cars used on the track by the Milton Keynes team driver: an Audi R8, an Aston Martin Vantage, and a Ferrari 296 GT3.
Leave a Reply