"Depends. With or without alcohol?": When Max Verstappen gave a hilarious reply to being questioned how many languages he can speak
Max Verstappen once hilariously joked about how many languages he could speak. The Dutchman can normally speak three languages but gave a humorous answer to a fan's question.
Verstappen is a Dutch and Belgian driver, who was born in Hasselt and raised in Maaseik. His father, Jos Verstappen, was Dutch, while his mother, Sophie Kumpen, was Belgian. Hence, he spoke two languages from birth: Dutch and English. Later on, he picked up German as well when he went karting with his father Jos Verstappen and F1 legend Michael Schumacher.
During a 2023 post-season episode of Talking Bulls, Red Bull Racing's official podcast, Max Verstappen was asked a fan question about the number of languages he could speak. He was in a humorous mood and replied that it depended on whether he was drunk or not. He added that without it he could speak three, but with alcohol, that number goes up to 69.
Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who was also a guest on the podcast, laughed on the response with the hostess.
“Depends. With or without alcohol? I mean, without alcohol, I think its 3 languages. But with alcohol 69 languages," Verstappen said.
Apart from speaking Dutch, English, and German, Verstappen was also spotted speaking parts of the French language on certain occasions.
Max Verstappen tried to speak French in a hilarious interview challenge
Back in September 2023, Max Verstappen was interviewed on Canal+, where presenter Naomi Schiff challenged the Red Bull star to speak French during the interview.
First, Schiff asked Verstappen what was his name in French, but the Dutchman simply translated the sentence into English. He then laughed and tried to speak his answers in French. During the small interview, he made some mistakes in French spelling and laughed while he did so. After a point, he automatically reverted back to English and suddenly apologized for not keeping his answers in French.
Verstappen explained that though he could understand French when others spoke, he himself could not speak the language. Naomi Schiff respected the efforts and high-fived Verstappen, saying that it was a 10 out of 10 performance from him.
"Sorry that's not French. I mean I understand it, but its more like...its harder to speak back," Verstappen said.
The 2023 F1 season was Verstappen's strongest in his entire career. The Dutchman won 19 out of 22 races in the season, massively outperforming any other driver, including his teammate Sergio Perez. He ended the season by winning his third consecutive world championship.
Recently, Max Verstappen managed to win his fourth consecutive world championship after the 2024 F1 season despite strong competition from other top teams like McLaren and Ferrari.