Secret to captivating Max Verstappen F1 cooldown room moment revealed

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri at Monza — Photo: © IMAGO

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Secret to captivating Max Verstappen cooldown room moment revealed

Max Verstappen appeared baffled in the cooldown room

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 9 September 2025 22:42

The secret to a captivating cooldown room moment that appeared to leave four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen baffled at the Italian Grand Prix has been revealed.

After securing a stunning victory at Monza ahead of the two dominant McLarens, Verstappen headed to the cooldown room with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, where the three podium sitters watched highlights of the action together.

However, during this version of the iconic F1 feature, Verstappen appeared distracted by the wall to his left, looking on confused at his name.

Article continues under video

The wall included all of the previous winners of the Italian GP, with Verstappen's name therefore up there three times to celebrate his 2022, 2023 and 2025 victories.

Verstappen seemed confused at seeing his 2025 win up on the wall so quickly, however, staring at it for large parts of the cooldown room conversation with his McLaren rivals.

Now, it has been revealed how the event organisers managed to get his name in writing on the honours board so quickly, with the majority of the Moet & Chandon advertising board completed already, and an artist putting the finishing touches on as Verstappen crossed the line.

A video put out by the official F1 X page shows the vinyl sticker being added to the board.

Verstappen's stunning victory

After snatching a brilliant pole position from the grasp of Norris during qualifying on Saturday, the general perception was that Verstappen would struggle to keep the two McLarens behind him in the race.

Norris did manage to overtake Verstappen on lap one, but by lap four the four-time world champion was back through, and he never looked back.

Verstappen ended up winning by almost 20 seconds, controlling the pace of the race and not being put off by the chaos of McLaren's strategy behind him.

It was Verstappen's third race win of the season in a year in which he has not had a car capable of launching a serious bid for the title.

Red Bull are down in fourth in the constructors' championship, and his team-mate's measly return of nine points in 14 races showcases just how genius Verstappen's 2025 has been.