Max Verstappen was a total breath of fresh air last year in Formula One. At 17, he was the youngest driver to ever start an F1 race, a record he’ll likely hold for a long time. (Shortly after he gained his super license from the FIA, the organization changed the minimum age to 18.) He was not only a competitive driver, he was also a stubborn personality, refusing to let teammates pass him, and generally bucking the recent trend of forgettable F1 personalities.
Max Verstappen drove his F1 car on a ski slope and didn’t die
I imagined Verstappen, who won the official F1 Personality of the Year award, would take the offseason to wind down a little before focusing his efforts on an even better 2016. Boy was I wrong.
What's an offseason, anyway?
A handful of videos were published to Verstappen’s YouTube channel today that show just how much more (terrifying) fun F1 drivers have than the rest of us — even during the offseason.
In them, we see Verstappen taking his Red Bull (of course) team race car and driving it up, down, and back up a ski slope. Somehow, the mix of studded tires, snow chains, and Verstappen’s natural born talent keep the kid from flying off the mountain. (The super serious 9-minute one, seen directly above, is particularly full of beautiful, mind-boggling footage.)
As if that wasn’t enough, the Red Bull car also had to be air-lifted onto the mountain to begin with. It’s like a set piece from a video game, except he really did it, and you might have a minor heart attack watching him survive. Here’s to next season.
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