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Reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen celebrated his 27th birthday in Italy in an unusual way. The Dutchman was spotted behind the wheel of the Ferrari 296 GT3 at the Italian squad's headquarters in Mugello.
After a hard-fought race weekend (September 20-22) at Singapore's Marina Bay street circuit, Verstappen decided to spend his birthday week with his Verstappen.com racing team. The Dutch outfit rented Ferrari's F1 test track at Mugello for a special track day event. Apart from Max, his father Jos Verstappen (who drives the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car for the team) and Thierry Vermeulen (competes in DTM and GT World Challenge Sprint) were also present at the racetrack.
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Although the track conditions were damp, Verstappen took the team's Ferrari 296 GT3 out for a spin at the iconic circuit. The 3x F1 world champion also shared a few images from the event on Instagram.
Here's a look at the post, captioned:
On track with Verstappen.com Racing 💪
Apart from Max Verstappen, a Red Bull Racing fanpage on X also shared a video of the F1 world champion driving the Ferrari on the start/finish straight.
Max Verstappen in Mugello today!
As for Verstappen's 2024 F1 season, he is currently leading the drivers' championship by a margin of 52 points over Lando Norris. With six races remaining, the championship battle is expected to continue till the season finale at Abu Dhabi in December.
Meanwhile, reigning constructors' champion Red Bull Racing has lost its lead to McLaren. The Austrian squad is now 41 points behind the British team.
"Our ticket sales really took off when Max stopped winning" - COTA race promoter Bobby Epstein claims rise in sales for US Grand Prix after Max Verstappen's performance decline
Since the race weekend at Emilia-Romagna, Red Bull Racing has been struggling with the setup of its championship contender, the RB20. This has resulted in a drastic decline in performance for the reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
However, the sudden drop in performance from the Dutchman has had an unusual effect on the ticket sales for the upcoming US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Race promoter Bobby Epstein has seen an upward trend in sales in recent weeks.
"I think we're in good shape coming up to this Grand Prix, although the route to get here was a little bit different this year from a fan standpoint, in that our ticket sales really took off when Max stopped winning, and it got more competitive," Epstein told ESPN.
Apart from Max Verstappen, Epstein is hoping that crowd-favorite Daniel Ricciardo can attend the US GP despite his recent exit from RB.
"He's (Ricciardo) really, really loved in Texas, and I think he likes it here. And so I would hope that he makes himself available more to the fans than he would otherwise be if he had an obligation in the car. I hope he's still coming here, because we got a lot of people that would love to shake his hand or get his autograph or take a picture," he added.
With Red Bull Racing bringing in crucial upgrades at COTA, Verstappen will be expecting better performance from the RB20.
