"What a flex"- Fans react to hilarious exchange between Max Verstappen and his engineer during the 2023 F1 Spanish GP FP2

F1 fans were left astonished as Red Bull driver Max Verstappen cracked a joke about his team advisor Helmut Marko when the Dutchman was doing his race runs in the FP2 session.

The reigning double-world champion dominated proceedings as he topped the first two practice sessions in Barcelona and led the field by a huge margin. However, fans were struck by Verstappen's comments during his race run as he called out Marko when he heard a phone ringing while driving.

Max Verstappen's race engineer came on to the radio to explain the race run plan but the Dutch driver was distracted by the phone ringing in the background.

"Someone's phone is going off. Is that Helmut's? Ha ha," Verstappen said.

One fan took to social media and commented that the Red Bull driver was showing off.

"What a flex," he wrote.

Here are some more reactions:

"The last two corners are better and more fun to drive, F1 cars feel much better at high speed" - Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen stated that he enjoyed driving the new layout at the Circuit de Catalunya after the removal of the last chicane before the start-finish straight.

As per F1.com, Max Verstappen said:

“We had a good day today," the Dutch driver was quoted as saying by F1.com. "The car was in a good window and of course, we will try to fine-tune a few things here and there but the short runs and long runs look good."

"The last two corners are better and more fun to drive, F1 cars feel much better at high speed. I tried to follow a few cars through there as well and it seemed okay, I’m positively surprised by the overtaking opportunities. I still need to look at the data and see how the other cars compare but today was a good day,” Verstappen added.

Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez also spoke on the matter.

“We always try a lot of stuff in Barcelona, because it is always the most representative track we visit and really puts the whole season together," he said.

"The new variation on the last two corners is quite tough on the neck, but obviously, it was a very short day and I think we will feel it more on Sunday, it could be tricky on the muscles! Today was a good day, there is plenty of information for us to look at overnight," Perez added.

It will be fascinating to see if anyone can challenge Max Verstappen this weekend in Barcelona.