Max Verstappen sparked laughter during an online gaming stream on Friday night when he admitted he didn’t know or care when Saturday’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix was due to start. The Dutchman will have the opportunity to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship before qualifying takes place at the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen pipped McLaren’s Lando Norris by just 0.093 seconds with a brilliant late lap during sprint qualifying on Friday to secure pole position.
He was unhappy with his tyres during an eventful session in Spielberg but soared home to delight the Dutch fans in attendance en masse.
Oscar Piastri went third-fastest, just 0.301 seconds off Verstappen, to seal a McLaren two-three. Mercedes’ George Russell and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari make up the front five.
Verstappen can continue his momentum into Sunday’s Grand Prix and fend off the mounting challenge from Norris in the drivers’ standings by winning his latest sprint race.
But the 26-year-old world champion left his fellow streamers laughing during a recording on Friday evening when he displayed how little he thinks about races the day before.
When streamer Luke Crane asked whether Verstappen had Austrian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday morning, the Red Bull star corrected him with a reminder that the sprint race is up first.
But he showcased how relaxed he was ahead of his latest outing at the Red Bull Ring by admitting he didn’t know when it started.
“No, we have the race first at 11am, I think it is. I don’t know, man… Who cares? Let me have a look,” Verstappen said during the stream.
The Red Bull Ring will, in fact, host the sprint race at noon local time before qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix begins at 4pm.
It’s an hour later than Verstappen claimed it was, but the Dutchman will have undoubtedly clarified the start time before going to bed.
After confirming his latest pole in sprint qualifying on Friday, Verstappen hailed Red Bull’s “positive day” on the track.
He said: “I’m happy. We started the day well. The car was really in a good window. [There was] the niggle with the sensor, but we fixed that quickly.
“Then, heading into qualifying, I think the car was pretty strong. I could push.
“Of course there will always be areas where we can do better, so we’ll look at that tonight. But, yeah, definitely a good start to the weekend.”
