Very few drivers are as skilled as Max Verstappen behind the wheel of an F1 car. His skills are so exemplary, that his handling has drawn in praise from people all over the F1 community. However, sometimes the Red Bull ace can take it a bit too far as David Coulthard experienced at the Austrian GP, when Verstappen showcased his best handling abilities, just to scare the Brit off.
The defending champion played this little trick while pitting on the second last lap during his fastest lap attempt at the 2023 Austrian GP. Everyone in the paddock had their eyes on Verstappen, who was seemingly making a baffling decision. The Dutch driver, however, was focused on playing a prank on his team’s former driver.
The fastest lap stunt at Red Bull Ring was a big gamble made by Verstappen. However, by pulling that off, he did earn an extra point for himself and Red Bull. It was also a subtle dig at the other teams, showing just how dominant they are this season. They were so confident of their ability to execute the pit-stop
Max Verstappen deliberately scared off David Coulthard
At Austria, when Verstappen was pitting in the closing stages of the race, he drove his car past Coulthard, but surprisingly, his wheels were very close to his feet.
Speaking about this Austrian GP incident, Coulthard expressed his surprise during a podcast. He was taken aback upon hearing that Verstappen knew it was him standing in the pit-lane when he drove past.
This was brought up when Eddie Jordan, Verstappen, and Coulthard began speaking about the Red Bull Ring race in the Formula For Success podcast. Verstappen said, “Did you like how close I got to you in the pit lane?”
Coulthard was shocked to know that Verstappen knew it was him all along. Despite that, he drove past him intentionally to scare him. The two-time world champion joked, “Oh yeah I didn’t need to go that close. I just wanted to give you a little scare.”
Verstappen and his love for extremity
Despite the tense fastest lap pit stop situation, Verstappen seemed confident enough to pull it off. He was driving the RB19 which is arguably the fastest car this season. Plus, having a huge gap over Leclerc made him take the decision of pitting for softs right before the curtains dropped.
Even though Verstappen was cruising to victory, he make his race interesting, by declining to listen to his race engineer. So much so that he was ready to gamble his victory for one extra point. Some fans even believe that he didn’t want his teammate Sergio Perez to get that one extra point.
Apart from that, the Red Bull driver’s presence of mind is also magnificent. For instance, during the Free Practice, he heard a phone ringing on his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase’s radio. Which he instantly recognized as Helmut Marko’s, and at the same time awed millions of fans worldwide.
