"With the DTM, I can beat you there": When Fernando Alonso took a sly dig at Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso once took a light-hearted dig at Max Verstappen following a hilarious media-pen interaction between the two F1 world champions, after the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. While the reigning champion claimed his 19th victory of the season, the Spanish veteran finished the race in seventh place.
After the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and subsequently the 2023 season, Verstappen took up the job of a media reporter. He grabbed the microphone off the stand and began asking questions to Fernando Alonso, much to the amusement of the media members standing behind the camera.
Verstappen began asking questions about Alonso's race, and then the pair quickly moved on to discussing their plans for the winter break. Alonso asked Verstappen if he was participating in the post-season test, and Verstappen told the Spaniard that he was actually going to be testing a GT 3 car in Portugal over the weekend.
"Well I hope you have a great time in testing, but I am testing in GT 3, if you want. In Portimao," said Verstappen.
"Me [as well], in Aragon," replied Alonso.
"Okay, Maybe we can do something in the middle," continued the Dutchman.
Quickly jumping onto Verstappen's comment, Alonso replied cheekily:
"With the DTM, I can beat you there."
Both the drivers and media members behind the camera burst into laughter at Alonso's quick-witted comment.
2023 was a historic season for Max Verstappen and Red Bull, as they broke records at almost all race weekends during the season, which was completely dominated by the Dutchman and his Austrian team. Verstappen broke the record for the most wins in a single season, winning 19 out of the 22 races, while Red Bull claimed victory in all but one of the races throughout the year, rounding off a near perfect team performance.
Max Verstappen reiterated his plan to join forces with Fernando Alonso to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
In February, Max Verstappen reiterated his ambition to one day race at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside fellow F1 world champion, Fernando Alonso. The pair have previously teased that they will team up one day to race at the historic event in France.
Speaking to The Mirror last month, the 27-year-old shared that the two F1 drivers' plans have not changed. However, Max said he has not been able to convince his father, Jos, to be the third and final driver in their lineup.
"It's in the back of our minds, we know that we want to do it," said Max Verstappen (via RacingNews365). "[My dad] is still very good at it, [but] he doesn't want to. He just doesn't want to do it anymore."
Jos Verstappen, who is now 53 years old, raced in F1 from 1994 to 2003. He even competed in the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans and won the LMP2-class.
Fernando Alonso competed in the 2018 and 2019 Le Mans events with Toyota, and came out victorious on both occasions. The 43-year-old already has two jewels out of the three required to claim the triple-crown of motorsports, having already won an F1 race at Monaco twice, and having also claimed victory at Le Mans on two occasions. The only prize missing from his cabinet at the moment is a win at the Indy 500.