Max Verstappen Jokes About Forgetting the Dutch National Anthem

It wasn’t long ago when Max Verstappen got angry when someone played the Dutch national anthem on a live stream. Those were the times when the Dutchman was dominating the rest of the grid with consistent race wins. However, times have changed and he does not enjoy the similar clout anymore. That could be the reason why he cannot get enough of the same tune now.

Red Bull’s performance took a hit ever since Lando Norris snatched the win from Verstappen in Miami. The team struggled to resolve the issues with braking. On top of that, the car developed an understeer characteristic, which was the opposite of what the Dutchman prefers.

Resultantly, the Austrian team’s lead has reduced to just eight points against McLaren in the constructors’ standings. Meanwhile, Verstappen still holds a healthy 62-point lead over Norris in the drivers’ standings. That points gap, however, does not do justice to the hardships the reigning champion is facing. The last time he won a race was back in Barcelona, six races ago.

The #1 driver hasn’t forgotten his sense of humor amidst the suffering, though. In a recent live stream with Team Redline on Twitch, they suddenly played the Dutch national anthem. After a wry smile, Verstappen responded, “It’s been a while. [I] don’t even know how it goes.“

That was just one of many dry humor moments Verstappen gave during the stream. Another one was a reference to the raging topic in the Formula 1 realm — the papaya rules. When the stream host Luke Crane said “No papaya rules here,” Verstappen simply held his silence while giving a mischievous smile.

The ‘papaya rules’ is a reference made to the McLaren drivers during the Italian GP. When asked what it meant, Norris in the post-race press conference said it was the instruction to not crash while racing against your teammate. The confirmation checks out as it came when Norris and Piastri were locked in an on-track battle.