Formula 1‘s leading man Max Verstappen is at the center of some legal drama after his mate posted a video of him zooming through the streets of Monaco in a super expensive car waaaaaay above the speed limit.
The 20-second video, which was posted by his friend Mark Cox, showed Verstappen at the wheel of a luxury Aston Martin Valkyrie as he exceeded the 90km per hour speed limit on the Nice Nord motorway just outside of Monte Carlo, Monaco. While he’s zoom-zooming along, steering with one hand, he’s also fiddling with the controls with the other.
I know he’s breaking the law but I wish I could have a teeny-tiny pinch of that confidence. I get nervous winding down the window in my ’98 Camry while going 60km per hour.
In the video, Verstappen clearly reaches speeds up to 124km per hour. While these speeds may feel juvenile for the two-time World Champion driver, who is used to going 360km per hour in the F1, they are very clearly against the law on the public motorway.
But it turns out that the reason Verstappen’s mate probably posted the vid is because the car he’s driving is kind of a big deal in the car world.
While I am personally too pretty to know anything about this car, The Economic Times reported that the Aston Martin Valkyrie is valued at more than $3.3 million AUD and is one of the fastest cars in the world.
Zoom Zoom, indeed.
Following the video’s virality, it’s been reported that Verstappen is being investigated by police and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) for speeding.
And according to Formula 1 news site, Planet F1, Monaco authorities are also investigating whether Verstappen should cop fines for wearing a headset while driving and driving in the left-hand lane, which is illegal. French news site Nice Matin has even reported that he could get prosecuted for “endangering the lives of others.”
Not so tres bien for the driver, hey?
Although Verstappen, who is reported to be raking in an approximate yearly salary of $60 million AUD, can probably afford a cheeky speeding fine, there has been some chatter about whether he will cop more than just a fine for his actions due to the FIA’s belief that F1 drivers are public figures and hence should set an example to other drivers on road safety.
The thing is, we are just days away from the first race back since the summer break and currently, Verstappen has a monopoly over the pole position. He’s easily on track to take home the World Championship for the third time in a row.
This salacious, speedy story has caused a bunch of F1 fans to speculate that maybe, just maybe, if Verstappen faced repercussions for this offense that saw him not be allowed to race in the rest of the F1 race calendar, someone else might have a chance of actually winning the damn thing.
And hypothetically, if Verstappen has to bow out of a race, Australia’s sweetheart and my dream boyfriend Daniel Ricciardo, who is Red Bull’s reserve driver, might be called up to race.
Wouldn’t that be a great storyline on Netflix’s Drive To Survive?
While many fans are crossing their fingers that this might be the case, others are just making some really good memes about the situation.
Verstappen is yet to comment publicly about the incident. Authorities in Monaco are expected to issue a fine and/or punishment to the driver this week.
Regardless of the outcome, I can’t wait to see how this plays out on Drive To Survive.
(Image Source: Getty / Jacob Porzycki)
