7am anti-doping agency visit leaves Max Verstappen feeling ‘a bit grumpy’

Max Verstappen was not best pleased with an early-morning wake-up call as doping control stopped by at Zandvoort.

The F1 2024 campaign resumed this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort – Verstappen’s home race – with the Belgian-born Dutchman securing a front-row start as he looks to keep his 100 per cent winning record since the event return to F1 in 2021 intact.

Max Verstappen ‘bit grumpy’ after 7am WADA visit

The race weekend did not get off to the greatest of starts for Verstappen , but that can be traced back further than his tricky run through Friday practice, as he received an unexpected wake-up call early that morning.

While drivers can be sent to doping control on a race weekend, visits from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are not exactly uncommon during them, and the timing of this one was not ideal for Verstappen, as they stopped by his motorhome at 7am on Friday for a urine test.

This did not sit too well with the three-time World Champion and current F1 2024 Championship leader.

“Max was a bit grumpy,” Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko confirmed to 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…”

Verstappen would discuss the occurrence during a live Twitch stream, confirming his displeasure.

“Oh, by the way, I had a lovely morning this morning,” he began.

“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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Fortunately Verstappen has had a better time of things as the Dutch Grand Prix weekend has gone on, though despite claiming P2 on the grid for Sunday, he said he never felt he was in the pole battle, rival Lando Norris ultimately taking that honour in his McLaren by a margin of 0.356s.

Asked in the post-qualifying press conference how good his final Q3 lap was to split the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri, Verstappen told media including PlanetF1.com: “I don’t know. I mean, I had a bit of a moment in [Turn] 11-12, but that was also a bit of my qualifying in general.

“I never really felt… Every run, there were always one or two corners where I felt like I was losing a lot of time with just the gust of wind. And it seemed like it was very sensitive for us. The car was really responding aggressively to it. And that’s why I think every single run that I did it was different. I just had a different balance every time.

“Yeah, it just made it very difficult.

“Q3, I think the first lap wasn’t too bad. Then I tried to push it a bit more, but everything just seems very snappy, very on the edge, I would say. But nevertheless, I mean, I’m happy to be on the front row. I think after Q1 and Q2, I mean, I’ve never really been in that top five region.

“Of course, I was trying to save tyres a bit because I only had four sets, but I never really felt that I was in the fight for pole. And then when you come out of qualifying on the front row, I think that’s okay.”

Bidding to avoid a first defeat at Zandvoort, Verstappen hopes to have better pace on Sunday, but admits it is going to be “very tricky” against Norris.

Asked if he thinks he will be more competitive in the race compared to Norris, Verstappen replied: “I mean, I would hope so, but I think when you see the gap, it’s going to be very tricky.

“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.”

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