Even as a world-champion F1 driver, rules are rules.
By now, especially after the famed ‘Drive to Survive’ series on Netflix, Max Verstappen has become a household name around the world, being a championship-winning Formula 1 driver for the Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team. With a long racing resume that proves his pedigree in the world’s most competitive, high-performance motorsports series, you’d be surprised to hear that anyone would turn down the opportunity to have Verstappen hop behind the wheel of their car. Shared to ESPN F1 by Vincenzo Landino, Max Verstappen was on vacation in Portugal when he was denied a rental car by the Sixt rental firm. Although the staff knew exaclty who Max was and his incredible driving capabilities, Verstappen’s age deemed him “too young” to drive a performance car that has a top speed of 195mph.
The rental car responsible for all the troubles was a Mercedes-AMG GT, which was later replaced with a slower, entry-level BMW. After we compared the numbers, Max Verstappen’s lightweight 2023 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 car comes packed with 900 horsepower and a top speed of 217mph while the Mercedes-AMG GT features an output almost half that. Sixt Rent-A-Car released a statement to The Sun saying, ” Sixt employees in Portugal only followed the rules that were created for insurance reasons. There are special situations that may justify a deviation from rules. This was one of those cases… We have no doubt of his ability and experience to drive such cars.” Next time Max Verstappen walks through the doors of a rental car company, we’re sure he’ll get the upgrade. View all Mercedes-AMG GT models currently for sale on duPont REGISTRY by clicking the link below.
Source: ESPN F1/Vincenxolandino (twitter)
