A birthday gift for a young Max Verstappen fan took an unexpected but funny turn at Circuit Zandvoort when the shirt pulled from a green plastic bag turned out to be bright red and covered in Ferrari branding.
Formula 1 had its Dutch Grand Prix fan forum on on the Friday ahead of the sprint weekend, featuring Verstappen and his temporary team-mate Liam Lawson. Both drivers shone in their team colors; blue Oracle Red Bull Racing jackets with Ford Racing branding. It's the outfit's first season with power units built in partnership with Ford. And it's been mildly successful. Although not quite as successful as Ferrari who have been enjoying being the 'best of the rest' team.
The host tells the crowd the child is celebrating his birthday and has brought a shirt for Verstappen to sign. She offers Max a pen, at which point he spots the problem.
"Max Verstappen fan? He's got a Ferrari shirt!" Verstappen laughs.
The host looks playfully mortified. "There is no way that he's a Max fan! Come on! I should've checked, sorry."
Max continued through laughter. "I think… I think daddy has to buy a new shirt."
She suggests, "Maybe sign the back?" as the crowd joins in the laughter.
As I mentioned, this is a temporary normal Red Bull driver pairing. It was confirmed earlier this week that Lawson had moved from Racing Bulls into Red Bull's RB22 after Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist injury during the summer break. Yuki Tsunoda took Lawson's place at Racing Bulls alongside Arvid Lindblad.
Before returning to the junior outfit, 24-year-old Lawson had competed in just two 2025 races for Red Bull. He described the sudden promotion by saying, "It's obviously not what I expected coming into this weekend, but it's a good opportunity." He added, "It's going to be a quick learning process tomorrow," referencing the crux that comes with a sprint weekend: only one practice session.
Zandvoort is hosting its last Dutch Grand Prix under the existing agreement this year. Formula 1 returned to the circuit in 2021 after the previous Dutch Grand Prix era ended in 1985, and Verstappen has enjoyed the top of the podium there three times. The track measures 4.259 kilometers, with Sunday's race planned for 72 laps making a total of 306.587 kilometers.