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verstappen and tsunoda duel in off-road race

Tsunoda beats Verstappen in spectacular off-road race

27 June 2023 at 13:58
Last update 27 June 2023 at 15:15
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Prior to the Grand Prix weekend in Austria, Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen engaged in a special duel. The two F1 drivers raced in so-called 'mega trucks' in an iron mine in Austria and Tsunoda managed to beat the Red Bull Racing driver.

Verstappen and Tsunoda engage in duel

45 minutes from the Red Bull Ring, where next weekend's F1 will take place, Verstappen and Tsunoda raced in the Erzberg iron mine, which is still in use. The mega trucks in which they raced have 500 hp, are three metres high and five metres long. The Netherlands captured the pole with a time three seconds faster than Tsunoda's, but the AlphaTauri driver took the win.

After the 'race', both drivers could laugh at their actions. "I’ve never really done anything properly offroad. I have driven my dad’s rally car, but that was more on the tarmac. Honestly, the approach of my qualifying lap was to survive! It was a lot of fun," said Verstappen in a press release from AlphaTauri. "I had a good start and used my momentum to the end. Unfortunately, he had a bit of misfiring…well actually I put a bit of water into his engine, but don’t tell anyone," joked Tsunoda after the event.