Red Bull First to Do Something About F1’s Latest Rage by Fueling Max Verstappen’s New Addiction

Red Bull First to Do Something About F1’s Latest Rage by Fueling Max Verstappen’s New Addiction

Padel has quickly become one of the most popular sports within the F1 paddock with Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez looking at it as their favorite pastime. Noting its meteoric rise, Red Bull becomes the first F1 team to include padel facilities in their Milton-Keynes base.

The facility’s addition is part of Red Bull’s tie-up with Premier Padel – a global series for elite players owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI). Red Bull signed a four-year deal with them in February, including broadcasting, production, and sponsorship.

Per Sky, this deal is worth tens of millions of dollars and saw Premier Padel’s latter stages broadcast on Red Bull TV in more than 130 countries. The energy drink brand will also be responsible for creating content for this sport in the future.

In terms of on-track performance, it doesn’t help Red Bull much. However, for Verstappen, who is an avid fan of the sport, it is great news. Having the chance to play padel at the team’s world-class facility in their Milton-Keynes HQ could make the Dutchman want to spend more time at their home base.

Verstappen can get incredibly competitive in padel. He has played in several high-profile tournaments, including one where he lost to Charles Leclerc in October 2023. The Red Bull driver, however, did not take this loss too kindly.

 

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Daniel Ricciardo, Verstappen’s former teammate revealed that he is working hard to ensure that he can become a champion in padel.

Daniel Ricciardo shares a hilarious incident about Max Verstappen and Padel

Verstappen and Ricciardo became close to each other, thanks to their time together at Red Bull between 2016 and 2018. Knowing a lot about each other’s lives away from F1, Ricciardo once spilled the beans on Verstappen’s attempts to improve his padel game.

Recalling an incident from Bahrain, Ricciardo reveals just how serious Verstappen is about padel. The Perth-born driver wanted to take part in a game and asked Verstappen for a racquet.

The 26-year-old replied by stating that Ricciardo could choose any of the 11 racquets he owned. The latter found this incredibly funny, and also baffling. The fact that Verstappen travels with so many racquets shows how serious he is about being a Champion in this sport.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Daniel Ricciardo Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing

About the author

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Naman Gopal Srivastava

Naman is an F1 writer at The SportsRush. Initially a football fanatic who worships Puyol and Leo Messi, Naman soon fell in love with the world of F1 upon reading about Jim Clarke. While the current era drivers do fascinate him, Naman still chooses to idolize Clarke and Ayrton Senna. When he is not busy watching the highlights of some of the greatest races of his idols, Naman can be found scribbling little snippets in his diary of poems or out in the town, exploring new places to eat.

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