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Verstappen's Nürburgring masterclass was a reminder of everything Formula 1 gave up - and why it can never get it back
Between donuts, burnouts and what Red Bull describes as ‘general hoopla’, Max Verstappen has unofficially obliterated the lap record at Zandvoort during a Red Bull Live Demo event.
In front of a large home crowd, the Dutchman lapped the Zandvoort Circuit in Red Bull’s RB8, which led Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles in 2012. The former Zandvoort F3 Masters winner set an unofficial lap record time of 1m19.511s, over three seconds quicker than Klaas Zwart’s previous record set in a BOSS GP car in 2014 and 11 seconds faster than the F3 lap record, set by Jules Bianchi in 2009.
Verstappen is no stranger to entertaining at Red Bull’s sometimes outlandish publicity events. Last year he charged down a Kitzbühel ski run at the Red Bull-backed Hahnenkamm skiing festival in Red Bull’s 2011 RB7.
It’s yet another record for the high-achieving young Dutchman.
Verstappen's Nürburgring masterclass was a reminder of everything Formula 1 gave up - and why it can never get it back
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