Max Verstappen in hot water following Aston Martin Valkyrie speeding video?
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) looks bored during Thursday's FIA press conference at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Budapest, July 2023. Credit: Alamy
A video allegedly showing Max Verstappen speeding on public roads is causing quite a stir on social media.
Just before the end of the summer break, the reigning F1 World Champion appeared in a video shared online that showed the Dutch driver allegedly speeding along a section of motorway approaching Monaco.
The video, posted on Instagram by Verstappen’s close personal friend Mark Cox, was just 20 seconds long, and showed the driver at the wheel of an Aston Martin Valkyrie.
What does the Max Verstappen video show?
Racking up north of one and a half million views during its short time online, the video showed Verstappen driving his €2.7 million Valkyrie along a section of the Nice Nord bypass motorway approaching Monte Carlo.
The video shows him driving along the Canta-Galet tunnel, with the passenger filming, with the control screen of the car registering a top speed of 124km/h in a section of road where the speed limit is 90km/h.
While obviously no challenge for driver or car, thanks to the capabilities of both, the question mark is whether French police may view the incident in the same way – along with the speeding, Verstappen is wearing a headset (supplied by Aston Martin to reduce the excessive noise of the Valkyrie for the driver), as well as driving along in the left-hand lane.
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All of these could be viewed as offences by the French Gendarmerie, who may be tempted to make an example of the F1 driver given the response from social media users decrying Verstappen’s behaviour.
“He’s being an ass. Too much money, no brains,” said one commenter on X.com, while others labelling him “irresponsible” and said that he is “putting himself and all the other drivers on the road in danger, especially in a tunnel where it can become death row.”
Even if the Gendarmerie opts not to follow up on Verstappen’s supposed transgression, the FIA may choose to have a word behind-the-scenes, given that a major focus of the F1 governing body is on road safety and reinforcing the message to “keep the race in its place”.
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The video involving Verstappen emerged just a few days after a Pagani Zonda made famous during its ownership under Lewis Hamilton crashed in a tunnel in the UK. The driver was uninjured, but the car was severely damaged as the driver lost control of the rear of the hypercar and hit the walls of the tunnel[3].
PlanetF1.com have approached the FIA and French authorities for comment on the video involving Max Verstappen.