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via Reuters

via Reuters

F1 is on a one-week hiatus and the drivers are making the most of their time off. Lewis Hamilton chose to watch the LA Lakers lock horns with Golden State Warriors where LeBron James‘ team sent Steph Curry‘s team packing to make their way to the Western Conference finals. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, cannot get enough of racing, participated in the virtual 24-hour Nurburgring. During the live stream, he treated his fans to some great anecdotes that are winning hearts all around. In one of those incidents, he showed a little gift that his team gave him to make up for a mistake that could have proved costly.

Max also flaunted one of of his greatest prized possessions which he kept beside his sim setup. We are of course talking about the WDC trophy. The Dutchman proudly held it up to the camera for the fans to see. He also recalled how as a child he never even dreamt of ever winning the coveted trophy, a confession that got the Orange Army emotional.

The heartfelt gift that Red Bull gave Max Verstappen to make up for a major goof-up

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Verstappen, against all odds, won the 2022 Spanish GP. Why against all odds? Because he spun and went into the gravel in Turn 4 when the race progressed to Lap 9. The mistake saw George Russell and his teammate Sergio Perez get past him. What made life even more difficult for him was the DRS failure owing to a broken actuator. As his DRS failed to open, just like it did during the qualifying on Saturday, he found it difficult to overtake Russell.

Later, somehow, the DRS started working just fine, and that is when he made progress to challenge Russell, who defended with all his heart. Luck once again shone on the reigning champion as owing to an issue with the car, race leader Charles Leclerc retired on Lap 27. Later, on Lap 49, Perez’s race engineer told him to let Max pass, an order he followed and his partner appreciated. That gave Verstappen the lead, which he kept until the chequered flag.

Now coming back to the gift from Red Bull, the team designed a special Red Bull can with a side cut out to house the faulty actuator. Max proudly keeps that beside his sim setup as well and showed it on the camera during the live stream. Take a look at how fans reacted to it and appreciated Red Bull’s gesture.

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Impressed with the recent stories Max narrated on the live stream, one fan suggested that he start a bedtime story segment

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Watch This Story: How F1 Escaped a Huge Safety Disaster at the 2023 Azerbaijan GP in Baku

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We are just grateful that Max is treating us to these stories while F1 is on a break. Simply carrying the entertainment responsibilities on and off the track, right?