Max Verstappen is probably the hottest commercial property in F1 right now. Even before he became a world champion, he had amassed a massive fan following behind it.
That’s majorly because he entered the sport as a talented yet arrogant race driver. And usually, he used to back his sharp words with his exploits on the track.
As he developed, he started bagging wins regularly and is currently the best race driver. Therefore, with a huge paycheck from Red Bull comes great commercial responsibility for Verstappen, which he has been doing for his team for a while now.
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Max Verstappen drove his F1 car in the mountains of Miami
Four years before the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, F1 was trying to get its mark in the United States. Thus, Red Bull also wanted to maximize the opportunities from the American market and be popular over there.
Thankfully, they have Verstappen, whose bad boy reputation projected in Netflix’s Drive To Survive got him immensely famous across the globe. Therefore, in 2018, Red Bull made him drive their $14 million F1 car in the mountains of Miami.
In 2018, Red Bull launched its Road Trip USA campaign, in which both their drivers drove their cars. In part 1, Daniel Ricciardo drove around multiple cities. The second part had Verstappen going through multiple places and ending up in Miami.
It can be seen that the then-21-year-old race driver was cruising the car through the tricky mountain roads at high speed. Though, it’s a commercial video. The skills of the Dutchman can’t be appreciated enough.
F1 capitalizing on the US market
In 2023, F1 will have three races in the US— Miami, Austin and Las Vegas. Seeing the sheer size of the country and its massive sports population, now keenly interested in F1. Three races in a year to them is justified.
Moreover, lately, F1 in the US has also attracted multiple stars from various fields to the circuits. Something absent in Europe. Therefore, the showbiz around the American Grand Prix races makes it even more exciting.
Like last year, F1 gave an incredible opportunity for the fans to see Lewis Hamilton, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady and David Beckham in a single frame. No other sport last year gave this level of crossover.
#LFG @LewisHamilton @Jumpman23 #DB pic.twitter.com/BcLHYNviSI
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 8, 2022
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