“To be honest, in general, I hate working out,” says Max Verstappen while sitting on the back deck of TAG Heuer's super yacht in Monaco, wearing a look of zero-shits given and even less remorse. It’s the kind of comment that has endeared the grumpy tell-it-like-it-is Dutchman to more and more F1 fans as he continues to grow into his roles as not only motor racing’s serial winner but also the pantomime villain at pretty much every circuit he turns up at.
He goes on: “I know that I have to do it for everyone but I hate going to the gym, so I do everything at home and try to make it a little bit fun.” As well as being a refreshing break from the relentless norm of ‘fitness inspo’ regurgitated from most top sportspeople, Max Verstappen shows himself to be a mere human – someone whose dispassion for the gym we rank just as highly as his obscene handling of a Formula One race car.
While most of the other F1 drivers were snapped doing various sporty activities during their summer break – mountain biking for Valtteri Bottas, surfing for Lance Stroll, windsurfing for Charles Leclerc and jumping off big boats for Lando Norris – Verstappen has been spotted partying in Martin Garrix’s DJ booth and lying horizontal on a floating sun lounger in the sea. Given how much he’s dominated this season so far (he’s won 10 of the 12 races including the last eight), he can be forgiven for embracing some chilled vibes. Here’s how he keeps in shape.
“We don't need a lot of weights”
“Most mornings, I wake up then just walk to the balcony and do all my stuff. Because of all the work we do in the car, we don't really need a lot of weights – it's not about bodybuilding, because we are weight-restricted so we can't really build up a lot of muscle mass. I have to find a bit of a middle way between a lot of cardio and then a bit of weight lifting, but mainly for me it’s about doing more repetitions of the same exercises.” Verstappen does a fair bit of work with resistance bands too, “so I use my own body weight with those. And that’s basically that."
“I never wear anything while running”
Pardon, Max? No, we’re not here to inform you that Verstappen runs in the nude: aside from anything, the rest of Monaco's residents would have something to say about that. He’s talking about his wrist – running without a smartwatch. TAG Heuer’s Connected watches are multi-purpose and are on offer to him as a way of monitoring his fitness levels. While it's something he used when working with his previous trainer, with his new coach, he steers clear of using apps like Strava, where you become beholden to recording your stats and analysing all the data from your runs.
“When you start to feel tired, you look at your watch and it shows your heart rate, but I'm like, I don't want to see that. It's just annoying, because you're already struggling. I prefer to just run and listen to my body, to hear what's going on and how it feels.” Running is part of his morning routine and he’s very much a creature of habit when it comes to the where. “I've done the route now way too many times, but it's still really enjoyable to go out there.”
“Train your body for what you need”
When it comes to the debate about which sport requires the greatest level of fitness, Verstappen isn’t drawn to choosing one in particular. “Everyone is just fit in their own sport. For example, if I go and play a football match for 90 minutes, I'm completely destroyed because it's a different sport in terms of what you need and my muscles are not used to that. If a football player drove in one F1 race, they'd also be completely destroyed. It's just how you train your body for what you need.”
He’s similarly restrained when it comes to picking who the fittest F1 driver is right now: “Definitely not me. I'm not interested in being a marathon runner or triathlete – I’ve told my trainer I don't want to be like that. When it comes to other sports, I don't really have a lot of other hobbies because I know I'm not that good at them, so I'm not really interested. Instead, I just train especially hard in January and February – the off-season is where you really build up your fitness.”
“I enjoy my food”
“I like to have a drink here and there too where it's possible.” Of course, he still knows the importance of being fully dedicated to eating healthily and staying properly hydrated throughout the season. Going out for a decent meal “is also a way to just relax a bit, you know, not to be always fully focused on work,” says Verstappen, but he admits he has to be a little careful. “I'm one of the heavier drivers, so I can't eat what other drivers do,” meaning any major weight gain would be a problem for race day. “If I really want to, I can easily gain 10 kilos. It's just how my body is built. But in a way, that’s also good as I don't need to do a lot of workouts to get back to my normal fitness.”
