“The polesitter can drink whatever he wants!”

Hi racing fans,

Ronald Vording with Motorsport Network here. Welcome back to THE WEEK IN MAX VERSTAPPEN, Motorsport’s newest newsletter dedicated to the 4x champion. I’ll share my observations and insights from inside the paddock with Red Bull.

After getting a taste of both Malaysia’s extreme weather conditions and its traffic chaos, it’s time to head to Singapore for the final part of this triple-header.

But first, I’m sharing some thoughts and observations from the paddock after a memorable race weekend: the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Max Verstappen’s first win of the season, a milestone for Red Bull, and some unexpected high-profile visitors during our Dutch media session!

Check it all out below.

For years, some jokingly called it F1’s unofficial outro, but those familiar notes had not been heard since December 7 last year: the Dutch national anthem. In Malaysia, however, the ‘Wilhelmus’ finally rang out again, answering one of the main questions still hanging over this F1 season: can Max Verstappen avoid a first winless year for himself and Red Bull since 2015?

During the first wet Bahrain Grand Prix in history – perhaps the alternative venue helped a little! – that question was answered with a resounding ‘yes’. When I asked him about it in Azerbaijan last week, Max still said that the Baku City Circuit had been Red Bull’s best chance of victory, but Sepang proved otherwise. Just like in 2017, by the way, when he also took his first victory of the season in Malaysia. Happy hunting ground, then…

That was Verstappen’s second victory in F1. Now, the tally stands at 72. You would think you get used to success, but I could tell this one meant more to him than many of the 71 that came before it. That is partly because of all the problems Max has been through this year, and also because it marks Red Bull’s first win with its own power unit – quite an achievement, straight away in its first year.

Verstappen’s opinion of the 2026 regulations remains unchanged – and the frankly embarrassing start, with half of the cars coming to a halt, once again showed why all the criticism is justified – but at least that much-coveted victory is in the bag. Both F1 and Red Bull still have plenty of problems to solve, but for a moment, the unofficial F1 outro from, say, 2022 and 2023 was back.

As usual, the most entertaining moment on the ground came from our Dutch media session in the paddock. Although, to be fair, Verstappen had already done his bit in Thursday’s FIA press conference when, asked about his preparations for the heat, he rather sarcastically said: “I think I had four or five months of very intense preparation. Deep mental preparation of not giving an F…!”

Speaking of the heat, there was further confirmation that Max and George Russell do not agree on too many things in the paddock. That became clear once again when the cooling vest that drivers can use in extreme conditions came up. Russell would welcome further FIA intervention, but Verstappen responded: “This is what you train for. We shouldn’t make such a fuss. Maybe I should take George to the sauna sometime!”

The funniest moment, however, came at the start of the Dutch media round. Just after I had asked Max the first question, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and the sport’s former chief Chase Carey walked into the Red Bull hospitality. Max got up, greeted them with a handshake and laughed: “Sorry, I’m not wearing the most appropriate clothes!” Just before sitting down with us, he had changed and put on a comfortable pair of shorts.

From beneath his trademark moustache, Carey replied: “If you’re on pole, you can wear whatever you want! And you can drink whatever you want too!” Verstappen was quick to respond: “Well, maybe I should wait a little longer with the drinking. Maybe that’s better saved for Sunday night!”

Those words turned out to be prophetic, because after his first victory of the year, surely he can have a drink – maybe even two.

MOTORSPORT · RONALD VORDING
"A very special moment" – Why Max Verstappen's Malaysia win means so much to Red Bull
“72, mate! 72!” Ronald breaks down why this win stirred more emotion than most of the 71 before it.

MOTORSPORT · FILIP CLEEREN
Can Red Bull now fight for wins everywhere? "It's difficult to be on par with Mercedes consistently"
Laurent Mekies says the win caps Red Bull's steady climb, but it's too early to call the team a contender everywhere.

MOTORSPORT · RONALD VORDING
Max Verstappen responds to George Russell: "Maybe I should take him to the sauna!"
Russell wants FIA help on cooling vests. Max says he won't wear one: the heat is what drivers train for.

MOTORSPORT · RONALD VORDING
Max Verstappen laughs off Malaysian heat concerns: "Months of preparation to not give an F!"
Six podiums in eight weekends but no win yet: Max on the winless-season threat and getting lost in the Sepang paddock.

MOTORSPORT · RACHIT THUKRAL
Max Verstappen to make GT3 return against Valentino Rossi, race on seven weekends in a row
Max will race a Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Portimao on October 16-18, going head to head with Valentino Rossi.

Reply to this email and let me know what you think of THE WEEK IN MAX VERSTAPPEN. Replies come straight to me.

Cheers,

Ronald

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The Week in Max Verstappen is an independent editorial product from Motorsport. It is not affiliated with Max Verstappen, Verstappen.com Racing, or Red Bull Racing.