Buddies in Monaco

What is Verstappen drinking with Van Dijk before training?

What are the two of them drinking? It looks suspiciously like beer what Max Verstappen and his buddy, Liverpool kicker Virgil van Dijk, were drinking in the paddock on Saturday morning before the third training session in Monaco. But it probably only looked like that ...

Van Dijk, who turned up casually in shorts and an open shirt over a white jersey, gave many indications that it was non-alcoholic beer. He could afford alcoholic barley juice, as he has been on vacation since this week - the Premier League season is over. And Verstappen? It's hard to identify what he's having in his bottle. But as the photos were taken on Saturday morning, shortly before the third practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, it was certainly nothing suspicious. In any case, the two buddies, both Dutch, seem to have had a good and relaxed time. Even if Verstappen was probably already thinking about training.

Verstappen in the lead
Ahead of the eighth race of the season on Sunday (3 p.m., live in the krone.at ticker), Verstappen, Monaco winner in 2021 and 2023, clearly leads the world championship standings with 161 points ahead of Leclerc (113) and Sergio Perez (107) in the second Red Bull, who triumphed in the Principality in 2022. McLaren driver Lando Norris (101) is 60 points behind.

And Verstappen will also be indulging in the right liquids on the Monaco weekend.