Max Verstappen shows his class as engineers can't believe their eyes

Max Verstappen left engineers speechless with his incredible speed as he traded his car for a different racing machine. The Dutch driver's exploits in motorsport stretch beyond the realm of F1.

In 2022, he partnered with his Red Bull team to launch Verstappen.com Racing, which involves him overseeing various projects both virtually and in the real world. Among them are sponsorship of his friend Thierry Vermeulen, who currently competes in the DTM Championship.

's involvement goes beyond financial support. Whenever his schedule permits, he joins Vermeulen - who is also the son of his agent - for testing sessions. Last year he did just that at Mugello, getting behind the wheel of his Ferrari 296 DTM car to push it to its limits.

The moment was captured in Viaplay's documentary Off the Beaten Track, which is now available to stream in the UK. Verstappen was seen consistently posting fast sector times, leaving one engineer to ask: "How do you think he's so good?" Vermeulen replied: "Because it's Max. He is insane."

"This guy is from another planet," the engineer exclaimed. Vermeulen also said: "To see him get up to speed instantly... Anyone can manage a quick lap at some point, but for him, it comes so naturally. Even in an unfamiliar car, he can work around the issues and use his talent and experience to immediately find the pace."

Emil Frey Racing's head of track engineering, Graziano Michelacci, was left astounded too. "I know what to expect from this kind of guy. In this case, it was something really unexpected," he admitted.

"He was improving the lap time at a level which normally doesn't exist in real life. So you are surprised, even if you expect it. Then you remember it's something to say to your friends when in the future you're in a bar."

Verstappen was pleased to have been of assistance, feeling that he had achieved his goal of lifting the team's spirits before their race in Italy. The team would ultimately secure seventh place out of 14 teams for the season, with driver Vermeulen ranking 16th out of 29 in 2023.

"When we did the lap time they were like, 'Wow, this car is quick, we made it quick'. So again, it's like a whole boost to the team at the end of the day. They all went to the next race, I think full of confidence that 'yes, now we have a car that we can fight up front with'," Verstappen reflected.

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