Max Verstappen a bag of nerves after agreeing to Christian Horner challenge

10 August 2023 , 05:00

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Max Verstappen a bag of nerves after agreeing to Christian Horner challenge

Mad Mike met Mad Max as Formula 1 champion Verstappen was given a lesson by a drifting legend.

The Dutchman is well on his way to a third consecutive F1 title this season. And he has been virtually unchallenged throughout the campaign, with Red Bull completely dominating the championship and his closest rival, team-mate Sergio Perez, 125 points adrift after the first 12 races.

Away from the F1 track, he's even had some time to try out a different sort of driving challenge. In a new video released by Red Bull, Verstappen is shown learning the art of driving sideways rather than forwards.

Filmed before last month's British Grand Prix, the Red Bull racer was given a lesson by 'Mad' Mike Whiddett, a veteran of Formula Drift in both the USA and Japan. Together they lit up the rear tyres of a MADBUL Mazda RX-7 boasting 600 bhp and, clearly, an attitude.

Verstappen's day job means he has no issues with speed. But he admitted after his drifting crash course: "Learning to drift in the MADBUL with Mike was very crazy. I didn't know what to expect. I think it was the most nervous I've been in the past two years just because it's not natural to how I normally drive.

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"It felt like I was 16 again and jumping into an F1 car for the first time! As soon as the engine started and I began drifting with the wheels spinning, I got more into my natural zone where I was finding the limits of the car, as I do in F1 – I felt that same adrenaline rush and my instinct took over."

Max Verstappen takes on a Christian Horner-themed challenge in a drift car (Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool)

Guided by Whiddett, Verstappen took part in a series of challenges. One of them involved 10 cardboard cut-outs of his F1 team boss Christian Horner set up in a semi-circle, dubbed 'Horner Corner'.

Each cut-out had an oversized hand which he was supposed to high-five with the rear of the car. That mostly went well – until the final version of cardboard Christian ended up taking a bigger hit than intended, flattened by the rear of Max's machine.

Still, Whiddett declared Verstappen a "natural". He said: "We really pushed the limits with Max and I hope he's learnt some awesome tricks he can take to the F1 track – drifting is as raw as it gets! I'd love to try out these challenges in an F1 car and see what's possible in Max's seat next time."

Daniel Moxon