Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed after Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix why Tom Jones’ 1966 hit ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’ was played over Max Verstappen’s radio, following his 17th victory of 2023.
During Verstappen’s cooldown lap after clinching a record-breaking 17th win of the season, Red Bull started playing the 1966 hit over the radio, to which Verstappen instantly recognised the song and admitted he’s “not a good singer”.
To his credit, the 26-year-old did try to sing a few of the lines, whilst listening to what Horner described as “Radio Red Bull”.
“Just don’t give up the day job,” Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase joked.
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“I think I’m better at that!” replied the Dutchman.
It’s certainly not the type of music anyone expected Verstappen to recognise, given that he’s been spotted in the past at various festivals.
However, Horner revealed after the race that he was told by the Dutchman’s father, ex-F1 driver Jos Verstappen, that the Red Bull driver often played Tom Jones sings “over and over again” during his karting days.
“We learned today something else about Max, that when he used to head back from the kart races, his father used to play Tom Jones tracks over and over again,” said Horner, as reported by Motorsport.com.
“So I managed to put on Green, Green Grass of Home. It was Radio Red Bull.”
Horner himself was left puzzled after being told what Verstappen’s favourite song was by Jos, something he was informed about at the Qatar Grand Prix after he clinched his third consecutive Drivers’ Championship.
The Red Bull boss expected Verstappen to prefer more modern music but this clearly isn’t the case.
“I’ve got no idea why a 26-year-old would pick ‘Green, Green Grass’. It was the most unlikely song I thought. But Jos told me in Qatar,” Horner added.
“I asked him ‘What is his favourite song?’, and I was going to see if Paul [Smith, Red Bull head of communications] can play it. And he went ‘Green, Green Grass’ by Tom Jones.
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“I was thinking, obviously after the Spice Girls, that he would be totally into Ed Sheeran, or somebody contemporary of his age. But no, Tom Jones!”
As well as Verstappen’s win at Interlagos having been his 17th of 2023, it meant that he surpassed Alberto Ascari’s 1952 record for highest-ever win percentage.
Ascari’s record sat at 75%, with Verstappen having now won 77.27% of the races this year with two remaining.