F1 News: Max Verstappen’s Shocking Pit Lane Prank on David Coulthard

David Coulthard recently shared a nail-biting anecdote about how Max Verstappen came perilously close to him during a pitstop at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Coulthard, the Scottish racing veteran, offered up this remarkable tale during his guest stint on the Formula For Success podcast, a chat with Eddie Jordan, the founder of the Jordan Grand Prix. He shared:

“I’ll tell you another thing on what I found remarkable. I’m going to drop a little insight for you here. I went down into the top three driver interviews so I was standing just before the Red Bull garage in the pit lane with my back to the FIA garage door.

“And I’m standing there with a camera man that will film the top 3 interviews. And it’s traditional, you go there and you’re in place ready for when the race finishes. And I see Max is coming down the pit lane so I take my phone out. I thought I’d take a wee video of a pitstop for my son, you know, it’d be a nice little thing. He was watching in the pits, and Max came past and I’ll show you the video.

“Sadly our listeners can’t see it but he went past about half a metre away from my feet. I couldn’t go any farther back and he pulls into the pit box. I filmed it and I think ‘God that was you know, it was a bit on the edge.’ I feel like I’m maybe not in the right place here.

“And I’m familiar with pit lane etiquette. Anyway, he goes on to win the Grand Prix. I did a talk, did the interviews, we finished our channel four show. And I was flying back with Max to the south of France, back to Monaco. And he arrives at the plane because he’s been doing some documentary filming, I’m already on the plane.”

The story took a humorous turn when Verstappen arrived at the plane later on, Coulthard added:

“He comes in and goes, ‘Did you like how close I got to you in the pit lane?’

“And I went, ‘You knew it was me?’

“He went, ‘Yeah, I didn’t need to go that close. I just wanted to give you a little scare'”

This gripping account underlines the unexpected encounters and light-hearted banter that add a touch of human interest to the high-stakes world of Formula 1 racing. David Coulthard’s recollection of his close encounter with Max Verstappen offers a glimpse into the camaraderie that exists off-track, making the sport as captivating off the circuit as it is on it.