Max Verstappen's former Red Bull ally lifts lid on dirty work behind the scenes
An ex-Red Bull employee has detailed the behind-the-scenes effort and drama within F1.
Max Verstappen’s former performance coach Brad Scanes has lifted the lid on mind games with Lewis Hamilton and the incredible behind-the-scenes efforts at Red Bull. Scanes spent four years working with Verstappen while the Dutchman won three world titles, before leaving at the end of 2023.
Scanes went in-depth on how rigorous each element of performance has to be in order to compete at the highest level, even including laundry. He explained that the pristine race suits that drivers wear have to be able to be swapped at any time, with sweat and weather conditions forcing spares to be needed throughout race weekends.
“Yeah I was (in charge of laundry) and I wasn't just taking his underwear every night,” Scanes joked on the Sky Sports F1 podcast when asked about doing Verstappen’s clothes wash. “So it depends kind of which team. So we would normally run with like six sets of everything over a race weekend.
“So technically it was enough to see for a race weekend, but that might not leave you with, like, a spare, say, on race day. So, everything that he would wear on a Friday I would then launder on the Friday night. So I had it back for Sunday, I had spares of everything.
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“So if there's a red flag, it's chucking it down with rain or it’s absolutely sweating, we can change everything at any point. They really kind of wear an undertop in a suit once because a lot of the time we're racing in hot countries, and, these guys sweat out, a lot.”
Scanes also revealed how Verstappen and Hamilton used to try and get in each other’s heads. At the height of their rivalry in 2021, the Red Bull driver came out on top in a controversial final race of the season to clinch the title, but the pair would often take part in small mind games away from the track.
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"As someone in sport, working in sport, I consider myself extremely lucky to be a part of that season," Scanes added. "We just witnessed two of the best go at it head-to-head, neck and neck, and you don't often get that opportunity.
"It's the little things they'll try and do to get one over each other. In the cool down room after a race, who could be the longest to get ready and take the most time. And it's those little mind games that those two were playing with each other.
"I wasn't just taking his underwear every night" ????????????
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 2, 2024
Brad Scanes, Max Verstappen's ex-physio and fitness coach, explains one of the less glamourous parts of the job... doing Max's laundry! ??????
"I think back to when I used to play football, I used to play central defence, and if you had a really good striker, you'd give him a little elbow, you'd pull his shirt a little bit, you'd tread on his toe a little bit.
"It's the little things like that which kind of crop up and stuff. So there were often a few conversations on race strategy and that sort of thing. But little things like that, they just seem to come.
"And you see it in the very best when you're in a title fight, those little things, they do come. You think back to, again, football analogies, because I'm a football fan, but think of the big years when Man United and Arsenal were going at it, or (Jose) Mourinho with Real Madrid against Barcelona and the comments in the media and the mind games and the touchline sort of stuff. So similar bits to that."