Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the Italian Formula One Grand Prix race at Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit, in Monza on September 3, 2023. Max Verstappen won a record-breaking 10th straight Formula One race on September 3, 2023, after coming out on top at the Italian Grand Prix in a Red Bull one-two at Monza. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP)
At the 2023 Honda Thanks Day, Max Verstappen claimed that Daniel Ricciardo changed into a “terrorist” during a karting competition. During the race, the AlphaTauri driver caught up to the reigning world champion by taking a shortcut and purposefully spinning him around.
Ricciardo made a beeline for his old teammate during the karting portion of the event, purposefully putting him into a spin with a shove from behind before vanishing up the road to pursue more drivers.
After the session, Verstappen shared his thoughts on the situation, saying, “It started off quite well but then Daniel decided to be a terrorist.” He was genuinely attempting to murder everyone in the vicinity.
Held at the Mobility Resort Motegi, the location of the Twin Ring Motegi racetrack, which is home to both Super Formula and MotoGP races, the 2023 Honda Thanks Day event featured a variety of activities, including karting.
In addition to Verstappen and Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, eight-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez, and the former’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez were also present with their respective tasks.
Verstappen was nominated for the International Racing Driver of the Year title at the annual Autosport Awards, but he was overseas in Japan fulfilling contractual responsibilities for Red Bull
After having the most dominant individual season in Formula One history, the 26-year-old defeated IndyCar winner Alex Palou and Formula E champion Jake Dennis to win the trophy. Verstappen easily won the championship with several races remaining, taking home 19 victories out of a possible 22 Grands Prix.
After the season finale in Abu Dhabi a little over a week ago, Verstappen talked about his record-breaking year, saying, “I have to say thanks to everyone at Red Bull it’s been an incredible year.” While it will be challenging to replicate this year, we had a great time.
“We are aware that having another season like this will be extremely difficult. Although you always want to perform better, winning races and championships is not always a sign of improvement.
“We are hard at work building a highly competitive car for next year. Certainly, all the other teams want to challenge us the following season, but we’re prepared for the fight and will still have fun this year in the interim.”
