Max Verstappen admits to SCREAMING at TV watching dramatic race following Austria GP victory

Max Verstappen

Verstappen admits to SCREAMING at TV watching dramatic race

Two-time F1 champion stayed up to watch the New Zealander's win after his own victory at the Red Bull Ring

Lauren Sneath

Friday 7 July 2023 19:54 Updated: 20:28

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Max Verstappen has said he stayed up after the Austrian Grand Prix to watch Shane van Gisbergen compete in his debut NASCAR race and was ‘screaming’ in front of the TV for him to win.

Van Gisbergen, from New Zealand, won his first NASCAR race at the Grand Park 220 in Chicago on Sunday.

Despite having already had a day full of F1, as he won the Austrian Grand Prix earlier that day, Verstappen was keen to watch the Cup Series race.

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The Red Bull driver said Van Gisbergen is ‘very impressive’ and that he was ‘literally screaming’ in front of his TV screen for the New Zealander to win.

Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Verstappen spoke to media at Silverstone about Van Gisbergen’s win.

He said: “I stayed awake to watch it. And I’ve never felt so nervous in my life watching someone else race and trying to win it.

“I was literally screaming in front of my TV, or my monitor, for him to win that.”

Verstappen: Van Gisbergen absolutely dominated

The two-time F1 champion was in awe of Van Gisbergen’s talents, saying he knows how good the driver is ‘in different kinds of disciplines’.

Verstappen continued: “That’s really, really impressive to jump in the car and you don’t know...They are very hard cars to drive, and he just goes in there and he absolutely dominates the race.

“I know he’s a great driver, I know what he’s capable of, and I know how good he is in different kinds of disciplines.

“He is great, of course, in V8s, because that’s what he knows, but he’s great in a rally car as well, and clearly he is great in NASCAR as well. And that’s Shane. He is a crazy right-foot braker still.

"I like watching it, I think it’s really, really cool, and I was really happy for Shane.”