Max Verstappen is arguably the most in-form driver in F1 today. The Red Bull ace won both the 2021 and 2022 World Championships and has already surpassed the career of the legendary Fernando Alonso, despite being only 25 years old.
Verstappen has been with Red Bull for the entirety of his F1 career so far. He is the face of the outfit and takes part in several promotional events and programs around the world for the same. However, his being a part of an event once led to a $543 fine for the organizers.
Often during an F1 season, drivers & teams take part in filming days, which are meant to be exciting and fun outings. However, in October of 2022, it turned out to be a huge inconvenience for Red Bull. They were filming in Imola when the locals near the circuit called the cops of Verstappen!
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Max Verstappen got fined for excessive noise making
Verstappen and Red Bull were in the midst of a filming session in October of 2022. This was just days after the Dutch driver secured his second successive world championship, and he was driving the 2013 Red Bull car for this event.
The 2013 Red Bull car is a fan favorite and one of the most iconic cars in recent F1 history. It was the car that Sebastian Vettel drove on his way to securing his fourth Championship, in a season that the German completely dominated. The RB9, however, was driven before the onset of the turbo-hybrid era. This means that they used Renault V8 engines. These engines make a lot of noise compared to modern power units.
When Verstappen was driving the car around the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the noise pollution meters went off. This meant that they were making excessive noise, which led to a big fine for him and Red Bull.
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Local tourism authorities slam Verstappen and Red Bull
In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, Elena Penazzi, Councilor for the Autodrome, Tourism and Citizen Services of Imola said that the Red Bull event was the only one to set these alarms off in over one year.
“On 12 October, Red Bull showed up with an older car than the current one and the limits were exceeded. It was a matter of a few laps.”
The Milton-Keynes-based outfit did not have to pay the fine. In fact, Penazzi and the Autodrome paid the $500 fine to the concerned authorities to cover up.
