Max Verstappen fortune revealed as personal F1 story told

Former F1 driver David Coulthard has offered an insight into how fortunate Max Verstappen is to be allowed to do so much racing away from Red Bull, based on his own experiences.

The four-time world champion does not only compete in F1, with the Dutchman having started racing GT3 cars last year at the Nordschleife.

His venture into GT racing has intensified in 2026, having already competed in various outings at the German track ahead of his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut in May.

Verstappen has tested GT cars for several years and often drives various other racing machinery as part of Red Bull filming days.

The 28-year-old finds himself in an incredibly fortunate position, with Coulthard revealing that not every driver has it written into their contract that they can race elsewhere or drive non-F1 cars.

Coulthard himself was banned from certain activities at the start of his career at Williams, but was allowed to do what he wanted at McLaren. However, this was under one condition: if he got injured and was unable to race, he would not be paid.

Asked how drivers are allowed to take part in non-F1 activities, Coulthard explained on the Up To Speed podcast: "Not every contract has it. 

"My Williams contract precluded me from doing anything like hang gliding and base jumping—things that I would never want to do.

"And then, with my McLaren contract, I would go skiing with Ron Dennis, who was team principal, and Mika Häkkinen. We’d go there in the winter for training and skiing. Ron’s point of view was: ‘You’re a professional; you’re an adult.’

"Big mistake, assuming that. But if you’re not able to race, I’m not paying you. So he assumed that we would take enough care in what we were doing that we wouldn’t get injured. And I actually did 15 seasons in Formula 1 and never missed a race."