"I was a little fat?": Watch Max Verstappen being taken aback by a question from a media member

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was taken aback by a question from a media member implying that he had put on some weight at the end of the 2023 season. The three-time world champion is arguably one of the more easygoing F1 drivers and is known to prefer staying away from the limelight while off-track.

Nonetheless, as the most succesful racer after Sebastian Vettel's retirement in 2022, Verstappen is often caught by fans enjoying his time with girlfriend Kelly Piquet and her daughter Penelope Kvyat during the breaks between races.

In a video that recently surfaced on X when an F1-related account posted it, Verstappen was a bit shocked when a media member claimed that he had put on some weight during the end of the season and called him "fat." He said during the remote Q/A session:

"I was a little fat? I was just enjoying my month off."

Notably, as per GP Today, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also poked fun at Max Verstappen a year earlier at the end of the 2022 season and mentioned that the Dutch driver let himself go during the final races, saying:

“Of course, Max, having won the Drivers’ and the Constructors’ Championships with a couple of races to go – they’re a little but like jockeys where they have to come in under a certain weight, we saw that weight starting to creep up a little, through the steakhouses in Austin and the taquerias in Brazil. He’ll be back on weight, I’m sure, by the time he gets back in the car in February next year.”

However, with Verstappen in the middle of yet another succesful season in 2024, the Red Bull driver and all other racers are sure to be maintaining peak fitness levels.

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Max Verstappen provides an update on his 'realistic' expectations for the 2026 engine regulations

Max Verstappen has stated that there are some key reasons for staying with the Austrian team through to the new engine regulations which will apply from the 2026 season onward.

Max Verstappen in his Red Bull after the F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2024 - Source: Getty

As per RacingNews365, the 26-year-old said:

"The key people, are they staying with the team? We have our own engine project, how is that going? I have a lot of faith in it, but you have to be realistic. You're fighting against people who have been building engines for 100-plus years, they have a lot of experience. But I prefer to be in the middle.

"I don't want to be overly positive, I don't want to be overly negative. I just stay in the middle, and you just have to be patient. It's a lot of things that have to stay together, or come together, for me to weigh up the future, not only '26 but like beyond and that's fine, I'm patient."

Verstappen has a contract with the Milton Keynes-based outfit until the end of the 2028 season and has spoken about honoring the deal on many occasions, even calling the team his "second family."