Max Verstappen hit with doping test at Dutch Grand Prix as Red Bull ace left 'grumpy'
Max Verstappen was given another reason to be frustrated ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Helmut Marko has revealed that an early-morning visit from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) left three-time world champion Max Verstappen feeling ‘grumpy’ ahead of Friday’s on-track action at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Like all elite athletes, F1 drivers are regularly tested by WADA to ensure fair competition. On this occasion, they paid a 7am visit to Verstappen to collect a sample ahead of FP1 at the Zandvoort circuit.
This didn’t go down well with Verstappen, who did not appreciate the early start. “Max was a bit grumpy,” Marko told De Telegraaf. “It’s just a Friday, we shouldn’t make it bigger than it is. People from such an agency often come early, because then it’s easy to deliver a first pee.”
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Verstappen went into further detail on the incident in a Twitch livestream to his fans later in the day. “Oh, by the way, I had a lovely morning this morning,” he explained. “So I’m in bed, and suddenly the doorbell rings. And I’m like ‘What the f**k? Who the f**k is ringing the doorbell in the motorhome?’
“And I look at my phone, it’s seven o’clock. I’m like ‘What the f**k? What the f**k is going on?’ So I got to the door, opened the door, yeah, doping control. At 7 AM, mate. That’s a great start to the weekend. And then it took me one hour to go to the toilet!”
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This has been a weekend of ups and downs for Verstappen. The Dutchman headed into the Dutch GP on a four-race winless streak - his longest of the ground effect era. Then he set the tone early on with a pirouette early in Q1 in front of his adoring home fans.
Red Bull’s star man showed some strong long-run pace during the remaining practice time, but in qualifying he couldn’t lay a glove on his closest title rival, Lando Norris. Verstappen placed his car on the second row of the grid ahead of Oscar Piastri, but he was over three-tenths of a second slower than the Brit in pole position.
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Heading into race day, Verstappen isn’t so confident that he can beat the polesitter to the chequered flag and claim a fourth straight Dutch GP victory. “I mean, I would hope so, but I think when you see the gap, it’s going to be very tricky,” he said.
“Also, it just seems like Lando’s a bit happier in general with just the driving and how he feels. I’m a bit more all over the place with the balance, so I don’t know, maybe it stabilises a bit tomorrow, but I guess we’ll find out.”
