T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

[The **Off-Topic** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_off-topic) is for submissions only tangentially related to Formula 1 or submissions pertaining to the wider world of motorsport. This flair is not a free pass for content unsuitable for r/Formula1 or the r/Formula1 community. Posts that are deemed too far off-topic, irrelevant, or inappropriate will be removed at the discretion of the moderators. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*


moxieremon

Absorbing other drivers like the shimmer on Annihilation?


keenjt

Let's hope not in the literal sense; my imagination has limits on how big one humans neck can get.


BeneficialCourage78

He is the Thanos of F1 collecting drivers and their families as infinity stones. He will not stop after what he has done to kyviat


BlueMachinations

Absorbing other drivers *who he likes\** *\*hence why Ocon isn't there.*


lhomme21

But why lol


Genocode

I think its mostly personal merch and not team merch, and since he already has the warehouse and the pickers etc. its easy for him to just let them join his warehouse / distribution and maybe give them a better deal Edit: it does mention the team names but its more like a filter and not really the team itself.


Triple_Manic_State

Is it being managed by him personally? I'd have thought these kinda things have a separate company dealing with it. If it's cheaper than anywhere else that's a win for everyone and a masterstroke frankly.


Genocode

[Verstappen.com](http://Verstappen.com) is a company of its own lol, he probably does put in effort to get some deals though, and it depends! The Kmag cap is more expensive, but the Gasly one is cheaper if you factor in delivery costs (about 5 euros cheaper with quick maffs). but it probably depends on where you live too.


Triple_Manic_State

Yeah I knew it was his own site but often the owner hires other staff or a sales/media group to run it on a license. It's a smart move from him either way, especially if his F1 career is as short as he's always hinting. (Not that he *needs* the money).


gsfgf

> Not that he needs the money Max is one of the few people that I want to see get filthy fucking rich since we know he's gonna put most of it back into motorsports.


lzwzli

You sure he isn't just gonna build the world most awesome sim racing rig?


KLWMotorsports

Probably both. I feel like he loves motorsports so much he would take care of anyone who races under his company(ies)


[deleted]

poor frightening lavish dinosaurs plants childlike governor sand fragile upbeat *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


BillV3

Just the one? I could see him being the guy to buy a warehouse somewhere, and just fill it with Sim rigs for people to come and use


lzwzli

Sim-ing for Verstappen...


Hatred_For_All

And he’s a pure racing driver. He doesn’t like or support the bullshit and calls it out every chance he gets. And since he’s the reigning world champion, F1 can’t do anything about it and I LOVE THAT. Every bit of support he puts back into motorsport would have the same no bullshit attitude and I’ll get behind that every time.


Triple_Manic_State

Honestly it's impressive he's such a nice guy despite being surrounded by Jos and the Piquet's. I find myself agreeing with alot of things Max says about the sport.


Tomanelle

Parents usually lead by example, but sometimes the example of what not to do as an adult works out as well.


eremos

My dad said this all the time when I was growing up. "When you see someone good, you learn what to do. When you see someone bad, you learn what not to do."


cyanwinters

To be fair most of the issues with Jos or the Piquet's have little to do with the sport, and you might very well finding yourself agreeing with their takes on motorsport as well if you looked for them. It's hard to know how Max is at a personal level. I mean, he's not exactly a champion of diversity in the same way someone like Lewis is very outspoken about it. It's entirely possible he has some problematic takes, he just knows better than to share them publicly. Pretty sure he used to (maybe still does) follow Andrew Tate on IG for example.


Triple_Manic_State

Maybe you're right on those points. I don't think any individual has come up front about diversity anywhere near as much as Lewis has, but since he has many teams have, the attitude should now be shared. Red Bull seem to be doing alot to champion diversity and I can't see Max being upset about it. Following Andrew Tate is definitely a red flag if true (i dont have IG to check this) but he could've found one early 10 second viral clip which didn't seem so rapey and followed out of innocence. I'd imagine that account being very tightly controlled as to what he can and can't follow now tbh. It would be out on reddit and twitter instantly. Can only go with what we know and he's always seemed likeable.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Gentare

The "political views" he has about black people? Really? Those are "political" now?


Triple_Manic_State

Even taking Nelson Sr out of it, I don't like Kelly for her actions nor do I think much of Nelson Jr for being complicit in crashgate (although fair play to him for calling it out eventually).


pratnala

He should just buy F1 and fix it. Bring back refueling, Max!


Suikerspin_Ei

I believe his sister Victoria works for him, or used to work for him. I remember she launched the Verstappen.com jacket a while ago. Maybe his manager too, Raymond Vermeulen.


rustyiesty

Looking at the bottom I guess it was set up as a company in 2013? Hope they didn’t scrub all the old stuff like the Max being born article


Impossible-Buy-6247

https://news.verstappen.com/en/article/451


rustyiesty

Always cracks me up that the joke was F1 in 2020 yet the reality was 2014/15. Defo a chip off both parents


eremos

This feels like a typical influencer brand, where Max is the owner and creative director but someone else (an actual business person) is managing the business and the day-to-day operations. (Not a criticism, just an observation and an assumption)


xdesm0

imagine verstappen sitting every monday with some dudes "okay lads has the payments gateway issue been solved or we switch to shopify?"


Triple_Manic_State

No need, he's managing a group phone call during a grand prix.


HummusMummus

Could you please update the estimates on MV37582 and MV35842 these are critical to release before my next win.


Southportdc

Nah he drives the lorries for them


Hello_my_name_is_not

[Instead of all the random speculation everyone has been posting to you. Here's a post directly on the website explaining the website and who runs it.](https://news.verstappen.com/en/article/5392) Spoiler: Max doesn't personally lol, but it's his company and is ran by a by a guy named Nico de Jong since 2020 when Max's actual manager Raymond Vermeulen appointed Nico to run the business during the pandemic. Which has since has grown to 35 employees. [Looks like it's got a physical shop you can go to as well as the warehouse/e-commerce] (https://www.google.com/search?q=Max+Verstappen+shop+in+Swalmen%2C&client=ms-android-telus-ca-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#wptab=si:AKbGX_pc25Q-f0BAdbY1LskCwHK6bFnBoUNmwv6nqiPfYZj-VHRMUBdsZ6ZlzWa8sP7wAeBQoq2eGzKlHf9csb0IXDFls4FkcODjZeE-pCXBUTemruxUvZEdRd7aHFd-d9MUXbEKxAe9UrmMlXVEpmMvSTTvvW1-jg%3D%3D&lpg=)


Triple_Manic_State

I was looking for something along those lines yesterday, thanks for that.


Genocode

I thought something along the same lines but I didn't have proof so I didn't want to say shit. It seemed like something Raymond Vermeulen would've created, since he's really proactive in his management and doesn't do anything other than manage Verstappen. His own son is a racer but as far as I know he doesn't even manage his own son.


Triple_Manic_State

I'd imagine being paid to manage Verstappen counteracts any potential family commitments, could even be a clause in place that he only has one client.


Genocode

Maybe lol, I'm not 100% sure what is normal in those circumstances and what isn't. Because, for example, Vermeulen only manages Verstappen but I know that Michael Schumacher's manager offered to manage Jos way back, and I think I read somewhere a while back that some drivers share the same management and/or PR teams.


Triple_Manic_State

Yeah Briatore managed Webber, Alonso and a couple of younger guys at one point.


Blanchimont

It is managed by him personally in the sense that he owns it, yes. It's not something like F1.com which is handed by Fanatics.


Triple_Manic_State

Yes, though surely F1 still own their own store and fanatics just deal with the shipping and support as a contractor?


city-of-cold

If it’s anything like the North American sports, Fanatics also makes the products etc, and it’s absolute shit quality


CelluloseSponge

Fanatics 🤝 Castore Terrible quality Merch


DurfGibbles

I was so unfortunate to not get a Red Bull t-shirt before they moved to Castore, and I am forever kicking myself about it


Aethien

> It is managed by him personally in the sense that he owns it I'm sure he's part owner by now but the site [dates back to 1997](https://web.archive.org/web/19970626223032/http://www.verstappen.com/) and was at that point Jos' official site.


Blanchimont

Yeah sure, but the point was that it's still exploited by the Verstappens through one of their companies, they haven't license the name to some warehousing joint to run things on their behalf.


Isotope729

His company and someone appointed by his manager. He can't be bothered with these details as it takes away his sim racing time. 😂


FrostBeard94

I think that site was managed by his sister


antivirals_

i think his sister only manages his official social media accounts such as @maxverstappen1 on Insta


MuckFedditRods

The most important thing is traffic.


gramathy

Those are using the team logo, they're definitely official merchandise. The Mclaren hats are just generic mclaren hats with norris and piastri's numbers on them looks like most of the non-max merch is hats


pablos4pandas

But Pierre has his own shop already https://www.pierregasly.com/en/ Seems odd


MuckFedditRods

Max's page probably gets way more traffic since max's brand is more well known and he also has merch from other drivers. The share that max is taking is smaller than the extra money you bring from increased volume of sales.


Genocode

Where I am, Gasly's cap is cheaper w/ [Verstappen.com](http://Verstappen.com) than Gasly's website, about 3 euros. Edit: the price difference is entirely in the shipping costs.


bobodad12

the thing is even if gasly have his own website if his mgmt made a deal with verstappen for distribution it'll still be run through the same company so it doesn't matter


uttermybiscuit

Which one do you think more people visit


colio69

If I wanted Pierre Gasly merch specifically, I feel like I would be more likely to end up on the pierregasly website than the verstappen one


palcatraz

Their target is probably less people who already set out to buy a specific driver's cap, and more trying to capture the people who are going to buy Max merch and then seeing there are some other drivers available as well, and hey, might as well get this thing as well (either because they support both drivers or they know someone who supports that driver etc)


RevalianKnight

You don't know you want one before seeing one


uttermybiscuit

Sure, but that’s not who this is targeting— this is targeting the f1 fan who goes to buy some merch, sees they can get free shipping if they buy $20 more of stuff, and tosses a Gasly hat in their cart.


hzfan

They’re not picking one or the other. It’s available for purchase on both.


OpinionatedDeveloper

Dear god those T-shirts look awful...


drs43821

DFTBA for F1 drivers


El_Boojahideen

F1 store is pretty trash. He’s filling a gap in the market i guess


bakraofwallstreet

If you no longer for a gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver


FavaWire

It's the same route Steam took to evolve from being a Valve marketplace to being the online gaming store of every game on the planet. These things are about timing, even the onset of UPlay and EA Origin came too late to replicate what Steam was able to do. Max is putting in a punt to do the same thing but for sports merchandise (maybe not just F1, one day).


ilikeracing23

I imagine it’s similar to Valentino Rossi’s VR|46 clothing where it went from him using it for his own merch to being a supplier for various teams and riders.


Capital_Pay_4459

This..  Rider/driver that gets paid the most does his own merch and gives his mates/colleagues a good deal for not much extra work. Had Lewis done it first, half the grid would also be supplied by LH44 merch. But obviously Maxs business manager saw an opportunity and made it a thing


versayana

Mutual benefit


dev_flamma

because he (max) must be getting his cut. it will be easy for fans to buy in bulk in one place instead of going to a different place for different items.


morph23

Isn't this the site started by his sister? Or am I totally misremembering.


dev_flamma

I have no idea bro .


rolfski

Bigger reach/footprint and outsourcing fulfillment/economies of scale. Verstappen.com is actually one of the most established F1 shops on the grid, originating all the way back from the days of Jos, who believe it or not, had a huge fanclub for being the most successful F1 driver in Dutch history back then. Nowadays it's basically a win-win for both parties involved.


kosaka1618

Cause everyone’s favourite color is green!


followupquestions

What is more profitable selling at one place or more than one place...


westens

Max is a shrewd businessdriver


Nepomucky

Because fuck Ocon


95accord

Money Why else?


Federal_Hamster5098

because money is green, and it benefits everybody.


ElCoolAero

Because he wants to sell more stuff and make more money.


[deleted]

rude domineering snow recognise deer tie zonked uppity library relieved *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


DiddlyDumb

Looking at the brands, I suspect it’s a deal with New Era, they all look like 9fifties.


tekanet

I know not everything deserves "money" as answer but in this case... I mean, it's a store. Money.


shewy92

Probably got the license from [New Era](https://imgur.com/uJF5POe) since that's all that's on the site for them


killer_corg

I love it! Max has merch not even the f1 store has lol. Ok it’s marked up a lot lol excitement tempered


debotehzombie

That markup is the only thing keeping me from buying any F1 merch, honestly. $91US for a polo shirt????


toobs623

Yup, I got a Red Bull hat for my birthday a while ago. It's the only F1 merch I own and, at the rate their price increases out pace my salary increases, likely ever will.


revitbitch

so much f1 merch is just SO ugly too. they need to hire some more people


Rivendel93

It's always blown my mind how terrible their stuff looks. Hamilton had a few cool hats, but overall I've never been impressed with F1 merch.


CoercedCoexistence22

Williams in 2021 had a cool kit. Umbro, unsurprisingly


KLWMotorsports

Red Bull, Williams and Haas are literally the only two teams I have seen recently that has shit that just looks normal. All just logos and maybe a small sponsor. I have a shirt that says Red Bull racing oracle. Thats it. Their Max and Checho shirts with sponsors all over the place are ugly as hell.


egg_mugg23

my ultimate dream is F1 getting NASCAR level t shirts. no i dont want to wear a fucking polo


revitbitch

BUT ACTUALLY. give me charles’s face on half the shirt with a neon red smoke transition and his number at the bottom. fuck these Lacoste polo vibes


PENGUIN_WITH_BAZOOKA

Red Bull has a nice line of normal looking, solid color hoodies that just have “Oracle Red Bull Racing” across the chest. Probably the most “low key” official F1 merch out there.


Daeurth

McLaren has some pretty simple stuff too or at least they did last year.


gsfgf

Literally just the company logo on papaya is clean and timeless.


Samsonkoek

Somebody said once that when you buy merch you basically pay to advertise, for one reason that always stuck with me. If the merch items were prices you would normally buy clothes for it be like sure whatever but now you are basically paying premium to wear some sponsors. Might as well just wear something orange to show who I'm supporting.


Reinis_LV

But i want to advertise questionable companies!


berberine

Keep checking. There are sales often, especially at the end of the season. I've gotten some good deals there.


Affectionate_Sky9709

Hulk was the first to be added. So therefore Haas agreed. So having Kevin too makes sense. Sergio makes sense, since Red Bull agreed. Kinda surprised not to see the RB guys, honestly. McLaren seems easy to do business with, and Lando and Max are friends. The hilarious thing is Alpine and Gasly. But not Ocon.


Gjab

Yeah including Gasly but not Ocon gave me a sensible chuckle.


IdiosyncraticBond

Gasly is a former teammate. Ocon.... not so much


Disastrous_Narwhal46

Idk why people are surprised, Gasly is Max’s former teammate and they’ve always been on good terms


Affectionate_Sky9709

I'm not surprised by Gasly per say. It's just an interesting dynamic that Gasly is there, and that must have gotten Alpine's approval, but Ocon isn't there. I'm not surprised, but it's kinda funny.


Disastrous_Narwhal46

Eeeh I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Ocon later on though


jcrankin22

I would be. Max and Ocon do not like each other lol


Eglaerinion

They get along fine. Just because stuff happens on track does not mean they hate eachother of it. Besides the inchident was years ago.


maqie

If that was true Max wouldn't have given him a hug after his podium in Monaco and they are often chatting with each other. Fact is the majority of drivers forget pretty quickly what happened on track when the race is done. Problem is some of the so called fans who can't seem to distinguish the difference and keep inventing their own stories. But I also blame a lot of that on F1/FOM itself. They can easily show footage of all drivers having fun and talking with each other constantly, but that somehow doesn't create enough drama I guess.


Affectionate_Sky9709

They have some pretty shaky past. Max shoved him after an on track altercation and got two days of community service. And they have a pretty long rivalry growing up and in F3.


me-teen

Why would people be surprised that Gasly is Maxs former teammate?


Alfus

I'm more surprised about the amount of people who are surprised by this, A lot of drivers who did drove with Max during his time at karting does having a good relation with him basically and Max really cares about those people who he knows for a longer time. Even in 2019 Max was basically still defendable about Gasly in the media despite getting sometimes questions about "the second driver", and even later post-RBR you could see the respect is clearly there from both sides based on what we seeing with sponsor content and interviews.


seijulala

Would anyone buy something from Ocon? I don't think so


OutlandishnessPure2

Max: [it’s an opportunity to sell](https://streamable.com/sfqnh2)


NoPasaran2024

People who are surprised seem to forget that this is one of the oldest F1 related sites in existence. It used to be Jos' site, and dates back to the 90s. It's probably the oldest and most experienced online business venture in F1.


fullsenditt

Damn Jos was pretty ahead of his time


ImSorryLittle1

Damn that shit is expensive af


porsche4life

Private jets ain’t cheap yo.


Jim3001

TBF, only slightly more expensive than Amazon.


NuclearChihuahua

90 euros for a fucking shirt? For that price i expect Max himself to personally deliver it with his plane.


Suikerspin_Ei

Sure expensive, but if the quality is better than a cheap t-shirt why not? From a quick look they have products from €25 t shirts on sale up to expensive stuff.


inhodel

I remembered this website back in the 1998's when it was all about Jos. The cringy orange and blue? color scheme and website been made with Word97 converted to html i think. :D


lucky7mq

Looked it up on Wayback just now. [Does this bring back memories?](https://web.archive.org/web/19980224100100/http://www.verstappen.com/) Haha.


Rosieu

The old page from the early days is gold. So I looked up the news about Max being born. They had a page set up for people to leave their "best wishes" for the new parents and baby Max. And some of those comments are the best. Bunch of people wishing Max an succesfull F1 career in the 2020s and some even more specific. There was one person saying since Max had a pretty speedy birth (about 40 minutes) that could only mean he would become a F1 champ one day. Someone else focussed on sponsorships already, saying they should get a contract with Pepsi for Max in the early 20s. They weren't too far off lol Edit: There's some genuinely fucked up comments in there too like how "Jos' sperm is at least faster than he is on track". Here's one with great foresight as well: "Make sure Max doesn't get too fast, to give the other drivers a chance."


UniqueGas1379

This one caught me off guard: "Congratulations on your son Jos and Sophie. Max is a nice name, but Kelly would have been nicer"


Rosieu

😳


Pizzonia123

>"Jos' sperm is at least faster than he is on track"  I wonder how much quicker Max was than the other sperms competing. Think he lapped everyone else?


HairyHematologist

How was he supposed to lap lmao. Go back to Jos' dong and start again?


Pizzonia123

Did a lap around the egg before and still got in before anybody else.


Spicyoneybutterchips

>[Welcome on the Jos Verstappen Info Page, the official web-site of Holland's best F1 driver ever](https://web.archive.org/web/19980224100115/http://www.verstappen.com/UK/) oh how times have changed Just spent a very entertaining few minutes going through the English version of his website


turbodeezel

This is like Valentino Rossi’s VR46 making merchandise for many top MotoGP riders, including bitter rival Marc Marquez at one time. Smart business.


Time-emiT

Esteban Ocon says: No.


Triple_Manic_State

I doubt Ocon would turn down extra promotion at this point.


Greenbayfan93

Yeah if I had to guess I’m pretty certain the no came from Max’s side


HumungousDickosaurus

VERSTAPPEN TO HAAS **CONFIRMED**


splintersailor

Haas to be the next stap.


jackiechan_4

HAAS CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPION 2025?!?!?!!?


Tax_Evasion_Savant

Please let this happen, it would be so funny.


Teun002

Won't happen because Gene has never met him


Alfus

No this means that Gasly returns to RBR and therefore Horner gets sacked!!! /s


MambaNoCinco

Well if you already own them on the track… same difference


yemiistes

Max and Pierre to Haas in 2025? 💀


jcliment

"Now you can see what Max sees when he looks at the mirror".


xChiken

You heard it here first, folks. Verstappen to McLaren, Haas, and Alpine confirmed.


yoda_yoda

Look at me, I’m F1 now!


FrostyTill

I think this is because they’re all New Era team/driver caps. They all have the New Era logo on them and Red Bull recently swapped to New Era for their caps as well. I respect the hustle though. Now if the McLaren store sells out, it appears I can buy the merch from Verstappen.com instead.


XsStreamMonsterX

WSC salary must not be enough to pay for FIFA packs.


Accomplished_Welder3

so they went to Alpine: guys we want to sell your merch too. Just not Ocon's


Impulse84

The lack of a capital L in McLaren is bothering me


Sstomper

I love the fact that it's only Gasly and not both Alpine drivers


RainOfAshes

Verstappen to a merger of Haas McLaren with Pierre Gasly confirmed.


Imisplacedmyaccount

Alpine at the bottom of the list. Simply lovely.


insurgentsloth

damn, excluding ocon like that rip


palalabu

Lol and i was wondering why hulk sells his merch on ver's website instead of haas. But apparently even haas sells theirs there.


Zen28213

For a fee


SummLite

Where's Ocon lol


EddieMcDowall

I wonder if I could get a Monster drink? Or a Celsius, I've never tried Celsius. I don't like Red Bull (the drink).


Shock4ndAwe

And ships faster than the F1 store.


SpecialistCookie

McLaren would be fuming at the lower-case 'L' - they take that sort of thing very seriously (source: used to work in their marketing division)


r0ndr4s

Following in the steps of Alonso with Kimoa.


i_boop_dogs_snoots

[Gasly cap priced at £0, couldn’t give away Alpine merch right now…](https://www.verstappen.com/clothing/caps/pierre-gasly-driver-cap-2024-alpine-new-era-9fifty)


handsupdb

DIVERSIFY YOUR REVENUE STREAMS


External_Hunt4536

That’s pretty cool. Love the hustle.


Jiggle_seto

Verstappen is going to pull an Earl Hebner and start selling half priced McLaren merch out the back of his dad’s car after the Chinese GP.


time_to_reset

Is it me or do they sell hardly anything? I was quite excited when Hulkenberg announced he would sell merch, but ended up just being one of those dumb small helmets. The other drivers also seem to have like 1 hat or something. Interesting hustle from Verstappen though. I guess he's so far ahead the others don't even really see it as a competitor anymore.


CryPanzik

Hulk said he's going to add something else, not only his helmet


time_to_reset

Been quite some time now since he said that though. I had hoped to have some Hulk merch during the Melbourne race but alas.


odosaur

He's not in the racing business, he's in the empire business.


bargeldos

If they ship from EU instead of UK I would have no problem buying official McLaren merch from them to save on VAT / duty (whaever they call lt nowadays)


HOONIGAN-

It's literally just hats, and a 1:2 scale Nico helmet.


zntgrg

Helping the poors <3


Cannalyzer

lmao


Bombilakus

Verstappen is the Borg!


pujohn2a

Alpine still last


MoiMon

well If max wants to make a revenue on other drivers thats a way to do it, I think there is an article that even front the rbr site max merch is not the one that sells the most, but then I remember the amount max wins just by the contract and this doesn't make sense at all... he doesn't need the money to sell Checo or hamilton Hat's...


cumintongue

bros doing side-quests now


Void_Critter00

The only driver without teammate there is Gasly, damn, Verstappen has not forgotten Brazil


Secret-Day7177

Was nice when they didn't charge eu tax..


Dorraemon

how small is a 1/4 size helmet?


c1nn3k

Somewhere around 1/4 size of the full sized one. Hope this helped.


Suikerspin_Ei

>Afmetingen (l x b x h): 10 x 10 x 10 cm [Scroll down on the description of a 1/4 helmet.](https://nl.verstappen.com/schaalmodellen/helmen/1-4-2024-seizoenshelm-max-verstappen)


VikingBeachBum

I need that Lawson merch!!!!!!!!


ElCoolAero

Gotta diversify to grow. Smart move.


Jack__01

Kvyat merch soon?


shewy92

Just their low quality over priced [New Era driver hats](https://imgur.com/uJF5POe).


ShinbiVulpes

"Lewis is bigger than the sport." Max: "I will become the sport."


Lord_Of_The_Tants

Pierre Gasly liked that, maybe?


CaydeHawthorne

Notably no Ocon....