Imagine that you’ve made it to F1, and are traveling around the globe for 9 of the 12 months in a year to race at different venues. What would you do in the little time off that you get? Party, relaxing at home, or just casually going out. Keeping in mind, one is never fully off the world of F1 and has to train every day to sustain the g-forces in a car. Yet, Max Verstappen follows Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo’s suit and beats the Miami Heat with some more sports action. But this time, it’s not F1 but America’s new obsession.

No, we’re not talking about Taylor Swift. But we’re talking about Padel. The game has become a new obsession with many around the world including the likes of Lionel Messi and David Beckham. Since Messi plays for Inter Miami and David Beckham owns the team, it only makes sense for Miami to have some great Padel courts, and that’s exactly what Max Verstappen decided to try out. 

Prior to the Miami GP, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris posted pictures on their Instagram of them playing Padel, unfortunately not with each other. Lando Norris’ caption read, “Getting Hot”, as he was probably predicting the track temperatures for the Miami GP and envisioning his first win. Regardless, after the Miami GP and celebrating Norris’ win in a nightclub, Max Verstappen decided to stay in Miami and was seen playing Padel, and took pictures with some fans. Looks like the Dutchman is on a vacation in Miami and doesn’t want to leave after the race. 

The Padel obsession has quickly caught the F1 drivers. Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and of course, Max Verstappen. All these drivers from the younger generation have been spotted many times playing Padel with each other, mostly as doubles. Even Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo love the game. Kimoa, for which Alonso is the brand ambassador, has also released a Padel racquet, which the Spaniard gifted to Charles Leclerc for Christmas.

We bet that Lando Norris would’ve loved to join Max Verstappen in Miami, but the Brit had to come back to the McLaren headquarters with his first trophy, as he drove his McLaren 765LT into the HeadQuarters with the Trophy in the passenger seat. And if Norris keeps winning, it might change the friendship dynamic between Verstappen and the Brit.

Lando Norris makes an honest confession about his Friendship with Max Verstappen: “Not Best Friends”

Norris and Verstappen celebrated the Briton’s first win in an over-the-top way by going to the Club E11EVEN in Miami. Both of them are also great friends with Martin Garrix and even Verstappen was invited to the party in Amsterdam where Norris got the cut on his nose, but decided not to go. However, Norris believes that if he keeps taking wins away from the Dutchman, the friendship dynamic between the two will change for sure. 

Lando Norris, when asked if his friendship dynamics with Max Verstappen will change if he keeps winning, replied, “I’m sure it will. Like, I don’t want to say it in a bad way. We have respect for one another, we get along. We’re not best friends. We don’t text each other every day, that kind of thing. But we just have a lot of respect from him to me and me back to him. So I look forward to it. I want to challenge him, I want to race against him, I want to battle because I think he’s one of the best drivers ever in Formula One.”

What did you make of Max Verstappen’s Padel shenanigans? Is it something that you’ll be interested in trying out?