Max Verstappen has undoubtedly established himself as one of the best drivers on the current grid if not of all time as he has already won two world championships at the age of 25. While the Dutchman continues to showcase his talent week in and week out while racing, he once took his skillset to a whole new level. This is because the Red Bull driver once perfectly executed a dangerous prank on former F1 racer David Coulthard.
The Briton recently opened up about the same in an interaction with former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan. The 52-year-old explained to Jordan how he was hoping to just stay alive when Verstappen once came agonizingly close to him in the pit lane.
Max Verstappen was keen to give David Coulthard a “scare“
While speaking to Eddie Jordan on the Formula for Success podcast, David Coulthard explained the prank Max Verstappen played on him during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. The 52-year-old stated that the incident took place in the pit lane when he was attempting to capture a video of Verstappen’s pit stop for his son.
However, just as Coulthard did so, Verstappen deliberately came close to him to give him a real scare. Speaking of the same, the former British F1 driver told Jordan, “He went past about half a meter away from my feet! I couldn’t go any farther back and he pulls into the pit box. I filmed it and I think ‘God that was you know, it was a bit on the edge‘”.
Interestingly, what Coulthard did not know at the time was that Verstappen came so close to him on purpose. The Dutchman made sure he informed the 52-year-old about the same by discussing the nervy moment after the race.
Habló Verstappen de lo cerca que estuvo de Coulthard en su pitstop en Austria: “solo quería darte un susto”, dijo al escocés.
Cosas que pasan al final de las carreras en el pitlane, cuando erróneamente se piensa que todo está terminado. Y algunas TV cuentan con más permisividad. pic.twitter.com/AudfcZgXbE
— Víctor Seara (@vicseara) July 21, 2023
“He comes in [the pit lane] and goes, ‘Did you like how close I got to you in the pit lane?’ I asked him if he knew it was me. He went, ‘Yeah, I didn’t need to go that close. I just wanted to give you a little scare‘”, explained Coulthard.
On hearing Coulthard’s narration of the events, Jordan told him, “That’s just how good that guy is!” While this was a time when Verstappen played a prank on someone else, he once was at the receiving end of a similar incident.
Verstappen was once at the receiving end of a “fake taxi” prank
Max Verstappen was once caught in an awkward situation while using public transport. The Dutchman was keen to travel to his destination via a taxi when an imposter tried his best to irritate him while repeatedly asking him annoying questions.
In the prank organized by Channel 4, the imposter first asked the Red Bull driver if he was Michael Schumacher’s son. When Verstappen replied that he was not, the imposter continued to ask him similar questions until the 25-year-old reached his destination.
It was only when they arrived at the destination that the imposter reveal his identity, much to Verstappen’s surprise. On seeing who the driver was, the Red Bull racer confessed, “I was really holding my nerves“.
When the imposter asked Verstappen if they got him, the Dutchman acknowledged that the prank was good. Hence, it is just interesting to see how the Red Bull driver too panicked when a similar prank was played on him.
