Max Verstappen’s participation in a charity mock-racing event saw the Dutch driver fall foul of a practical joke by an F1 fan.

Verstappen was taking part in a 23-hour endurance event called ‘The Race for Mental Health’ organized by Jimmy Broadbent – and the reigning world champion had to endure a few jokes at his expense.

Max Verstappen: Why am I noticed?!

Entering the event as part of the Redline team, Verstappen was targeted by a fan keen to shell out some cash to mock the Dutchman’s 2024 season.

Viewers of the 23 Hours of Zolder could penalize participants with donations, and Verstappen – as the race’s most high-profile driver – was the main choice.

A spectator posed as the FIA, with whom Verstappen has had several brief moments recently due to being hit with sporting penalties and penalties for swearing, and paid £100 to enforce penalties. Red Bull driver.

Their first donation was sent with the message: “Stop and go penalty for car #1.”

Minutes later, mocking Verstappen’s community service sentence for swearing during the Singapore GP press conference, the viewer sent another donation and said: “Max, you used foul language and offensive to broadcast, so it’s another stop and go for car 1. Community service next – we’re watching.”

As the race was meant to be a charity fundraiser rather than a full-on competitive sim racing outing, Verstappen could see the fun in it as he retorted: “Why am I being singled out?!”

Showing his usual clarity about the rules, Verstappen could also be heard arguing for a penalty as he claimed he shouldn’t have taken a penalty as his car was “number 1, not 01, so whoever did this can get away!”

The fan-designed model of Verstappen’s car was also a source of amusement. An image of Lando Norris running wide in Turn 1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix was displayed on the car, accompanied by the caption “Think Different” in reference to previous Mercedes advertisements.

Footage was also shown of George Russell comparing him to Woody from Toy Story, as well as the FOM TV graphic to impose a 10 second time penalty on Verstappen.

The model for Team Redline (Max’s team) in the 23 hour race for mental health pic.twitter.com/jValOLpu5G

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) November 9, 2024

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The 23 Hours of Zolder was Broadbent’s sixth such race for mental health and has become a staple of the sim racing community – of which Verstappen is a supporter when not competing in F1.

“This race is near and dear to my heart,” Broadbent said in preparation.

“I (like many others) have suffered from my own mental health issues and have found charities like Mind to be invaluable. My proudest achievement to date is that our community has raised almost £300,000 for this cause… it’s hard to overstate how much of a difference it makes.”

Posting after the race, Broadbent revealed the extent of the funds raised by the event, posting on X (formerly Twitter) to say: “What a crazy last hour. We went from around £70,000 to £93,000, breaking our previous record! Including Gift Aid, our total for this event comes to £103,000 raised for the wonderful people at @MindCharity.

“I am infinitely proud of this community. Thank you.”

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