Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen was certainly in a good mood on Thursday at the Australian Grand Prix, with the Red Bull driver having trialled a new hairstyle.
Verstappen enters this weekend with a one-point advantage in the Drivers’ Championship over team-mate Sergio Perez, who claimed victory at the recent round in Saudi Arabia.
The Red Bull duo have now claimed a victory and a second place each to start the 2023 F1 season, with the Milton Keynes-based team looking unstoppable.
Given their strong start to the season, Verstappen was able to let his hair down during his media duties at the Albert Park Circuit, where he retired 12 months ago.
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Verstappen was seen trying on a long blonde wig to which Perez was clearly a fan of, as were many of the Dutchman’s fans.
A Verstappen fan page shared a video of the 25-year-old wearing the wig, along with the caption: “Max in his Maxine Era.”
“Wow, you look good,” said Perez, whilst Verstappen was putting on the wig.
“Beautiful,” said the cameraman.
“I got a lot of hair now, said the Dutchman. “F*** it’s so long!”.
Verstappen will be hoping that the blonde wig brings him luck in Melbourne, especially after being unwell at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The double World Champion had to deal with a stomach virus just a matter of days before heading to Jeddah, something which made for an uncomfortable weekend.
Due to having not yet fully recovered, Verstappen is now pleased at the three-week break which follows this weekend, following the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Verstappen is looking forward to being able to return to “full fitness” during the Easter break and head to Azerbaijan at the end of April in the right frame of mind.
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βA couple of weeks ago, I would say that I was not looking forward to it,” said Verstappen.
“But then I got really ill and Iβve just been struggling a bit since that time, especially the last race out. For me now those three weeks are just getting back to, like, full fitness, getting a full program in.
βSo, in a way, itβs probably nice now. Normally, if you just feel well, I think I would also prefer to keep racing [than take a break]. It has nothing to do with looking into the car, trying to make it faster. I think thatβs a natural process.”