Rules are apparently rules, even if you’re a three-time Formula 1 world champion.
Imagine the embarrassment of denying a Formula 1 driver a rental car because they’re too young to drive quickly. That’d be like rejecting Michael Jordan for a game of pick-up basketball because he’s 60 now. According to The Sun, F1 driver Max Verstappen was turned down for a rental AMG GT in Portugal because it had a 195 mph top speed, and he’s but only 26.
Verstappen was on vacation in Portugal with family and friends and had several cars booked from Sixt. However, when they arrived and Verstappen wanted to take the AMG GT, he was reportedly denied because Sixt’s insurance requires drivers to be over 30 years old for such cars. I guess there aren’t age exceptions for three-time F1 world champions.
Despite the silliness of denying Verstappen a fast rental car, The Sun’s source says Verstappen abided by the rules and took a normie BMW 5 Series instead.
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“The employees of our franchise partner in Portugal have only followed the rules that arise for insurance reasons,” a Sixt spokesperson told The Sun. “In order to find a customer-friendly solution on site, Mr. Verstappen was provided with another premium vehicle.”
Since then, though, Sixt has apparently made an exception for Verstappen, and he’s now allowed to rent the AMG GT.
Interestingly, Max Verstappen’s father and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen replied to an X (Twitter) post about the story, saying “What nonsense.” It’s unclear which part of the story is nonsense to Jos, or if he was just commenting on the absurdity of the entire situation.
Without being there, we can’t know if Verstappen pulled the classic “Do you know who I am?!” I’m sure there was at least some surprise when arguably the best driver in the world was told he wasn’t qualified to rent a fast car. But credit to Verstappen for being chill enough to follow the rules.
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