The fever of the Euro 2024 is catching up with the F1 paddock too. With most of the drivers on the grid hailing from Europe, many are excited and supporting their country’s progress at the quadrennial European soccer competition. The Netherlands soccer team will be taking on France in their second Euro 2024 encounter on June 21. Ahead of this blockbuster clash between the two sides, reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen has unveiled his customized Netherlands t-shirt.
As seen in the post below, Verstappen’s Netherlands t-shirt has his name and his car number one on the back. The Dutchman is a huge soccer fan and has a close bond with the Netherlands soccer team captain Virgil van Dijk.
Max with a custom shirt to show support to the Netherlands for the #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/y5TzltLGOE
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) June 21, 2024
Back at the 2022 British GP, Verstappen welcomed van Dijk into the Red Bull garage. The two most recently crossed paths at this year’s Monaco GP when the 26-year-old driver took the Liverpool defender around for a tour of the paddock.
And as Van Dijk gears up to lead his side in arguably the biggest game of the group stages of the 2024 Euros so far, Verstappen is certainly going to support them and hope for a Dutch win. The Netherlands have already beaten Poland in their opening game with a scoreline of 2-1.
However, Max Verstappen is not the only one from the F1 world who will keep a close watch on the proceedings at the Euro 2024. Pierre Gasly will also be supporting France, who ended up as the runners-up at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, even the French team has their handicaps, something Gasly hopes won’t affect their chances.
Pierre Gasly hopes Kylian Mbappe’s absence doesn’t hurt France against the Netherlands
Although the French national team has provided no update on whether Kylian Mbappe will play against the Netherlands or not, Gasly is worried that the 25-year-old will play no part. During the Spanish GP presser, the Alpine driver said, “I’m sad that Kylian has light damage on his face. That’s not good news for us because he’s not going to play”.
Although France may not have their captain on the field, Gasly is still confident that Les Bleus can beat the Netherlands. “We are lucky to have an incredible generation and very talented players from experience and also newcomers in the team. Exciting time to be French,” Gasly added.
Irrespective of who wins between the two sides, it seems evident that both Verstappen and Gasly are going to keep a close watch on the match after they complete the two Spanish GP practice sessions on Friday.
When it comes to the race weekend, Verstappen will be hoping to register his seventh win of the 2024 season. Meanwhile, Gasly will hope to score points for only the third time this year, in what has been a difficult start to the season for him.
