Max Verstappen, recently enjoyed a dominant victory at the Japan Grand Prix, which sealed Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ title win. However, this victory was different from his usual wins. It was fueled by an incident that occurred at the Singapore Grand Prix. The secret behind this fueled victory? A game of padel tennis, as reported by RBR News.
Padel tennis, a racquet sport that is a mix between tennis and squash, has become Verstappen’s latest obsession. He has been playing it with every driver on the grid and at every race weekend. In fact, it was a padel match that played a significant role in Verstappen’s victory at the Japan Grand Prix.
max verstappen doesnt play about padel https://t.co/nxj6f4uhzm pic.twitter.com/SBJyApe4zL
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) September 25, 2023
According to a YouTube video, Lando Norris and Alex Albon formed a team and won a paddle tennis match against both George Russell and Max Verstappen Norris shared that he paddled one-on-one with Max, and thus could defeat him It happened.
Horner on Verstappen outperforming in Suzuka
Christian Horner made an interesting point when talking about Max Verstappen’s exceptional performance at the Japanese Grand Prix. He said he and Verstappen had a paddle tennis tournament earlier that week. During the game, the 25-year-old was incredibly happy and showed his determination to win under 20 seconds in the upcoming race.
Talking about this, Horner stated, “I played padel tennis with Max on Wednesday. And he was properly fired up and he said: ‘I want to win the race by 20 seconds”
🗣️ | 🇯🇵 Christian Horner on Max firing up to out perform the grid in Japanese GP
“I played padel tennis with Max on Wednesday and he was properly fired up and he said: ‘I want to win the race by 20 seconds’”
“And in fairness, he came within 0.7s of achieving that. You could… pic.twitter.com/KSqGvEt3MR
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) September 25, 2023
According to his story, Verstappen nearly reached this huge goal, only falling for 0.7 seconds. Horner also highlighted Max’s concentration and driving during the even that on the hard tires of the first lap of FP1, Verstappen was 1.8 seconds faster than the field remaining on medium or soft tires.
Max Verstappen can win third F1 title in Qatar
Max Verstappen is on his way to a third consecutive Formula 1 title following his recent victory in Japan. With just a handful of races left in the season, Verstappen has a huge lead over teammate Sergio Perez.
With 180 points still up for grabs in the remaining six races, Verstappen needs just three more points to secure his third consecutive title victory. Even if Verstappen has a less than perfect weekend, he can still be crowned champion. Finishing sixth in the F1 race would be enough for him to seal his win. Additionally, Perez needs to finish at least third in the race to keep his championship hopes alive going into Sunday’s race.