The absence and probable birth of Max Verstappen‘s first child is the talk of the town in the run-up to the Miami GP. In contrast, the culinary delight of food connoisseur Yuki Tsunoda at the center of the Hard Rock Stadium seems somewhat pale.
On the media day in Miami Gardens on Thursday, there is really only one topic of conversation: has Max Verstappen become a father yet or not? And is it a boy or a girl? Two American, female colleagues sitting behind me in the local cold room (the media center) are visibly excited. They want to bring the baby news as soon as possible, if the joyful news – undoubtedly via social media – is confirmed. “But I’m not staying awake for it tonight,” says one of the two. So it’s apparently not that important. A comforting thought.
The birth of Verstappen’s first child is big news in the Hard Rock Stadium. It is also the topic of conversation during the usual press conference. Naturally, the question that you knew would come up also comes up: whether a driver ‘becomes a few tenths slower’ when he has become a father, a claim that has been and (again) is refuted by drivers for decades.
This time, Nico Hülkenberg, a father since 2021, gets to recite the usual denial spiel for the umpteenth time. He believes that he has not become a bit slower since becoming a father. On the contrary, he says. Just look at his results. And when you’re in the car, you’re so focused, you don’t think about the danger or your child, Hülkenberg’s answer to this question, which every driver always gives, can be summarized. Max Verstappen will undoubtedly have to endure it again on Friday…
Yuki Tsunoda has no desire for children yet, apart from sporting success with Red Bull, he dreams of very different things. Of food, or better yet: his own restaurant. Anyone who follows the very nice Japanese on his social channels knows that food is one of his hobby horses. In response to a question from an American about what he thinks of Miami, he answers wittily and politely that the food is good. Especially when you have been invited earlier in the week to a cooking session with the chef and his staff at the exclusive Hard Rock Hotel.
Tsunoda confessed years ago during a candid conversation in Istanbul that opening his own restaurant is number 1 in a life after Formula 1. The Japanese is crazy about everything to do with food. In the paddock on Thursday, the conversation is again about food. This time he gets to taste the flavor of some typical American candies and cookies selected by NFL star Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings). For the many cameras and spectators, it becomes a fun show. Because that’s what it seems to be all about in Formula 1 these days.
