When Max Verstappen almost fainted on track at the Singapore GP because of a ‘Godzilla’


When Max Verstappen almost fainted on track at the Singapore GP because of a ‘Godzilla’

It is not everyday that you get to see the vulnerable side to Red Bull beast Max Verstappen, who fought valiantly against the legendary seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and won his first-ever Championship in 2021. While the Dutchman puts up a serious front and preys down on his opponents ruthlessly whenever he is out on a racetrack for a Formula 1 Grand Prix, there was one time when he was frightened out of his skin at the Singapore Grand Prix 2016–all because of a “giant lizard”.

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The Republic of Singapore lies in the southeast Asia, and is rich with its endemic species of various animals. And one of the things–rather, demons–that are often found roaming around in the country are giant lizards called the Komodo Dragons. Now, when the F1 2016 race took place, Verstappen was only a newbie who had just started off with Red Bull after debuting in 2015. And the scare he got when a the huge monitor lizard suddenly came in the middle of his way is something that the F1 community will remember forever!

Max Verstappen, who is almost always in a combative mode while on the tracks, had the funniest exchange with his race engineer after spotting the alleged “Godzilla”. And his engineer had a wonderful reply to the Dutchman’s worries as Max was busy making him believe that the “giant lizard” was actually on the racetrack.

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Max Verstappen’s encounter with the Komodo “Godzilla” Dragon will go down in the history of the Singapore GP

Godzilla at the Singapore GP
The famous “Godzilla” that shocked Max Verstappen during the Singapore GP 2016 weekend

It was during the final practice session at the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix when Max Verstappen was recording a lap time and he certainly did not expect what came for him next. As he arrived at turn 3 on the Marina Bay Circuit, he found a monitor lizard waiting to greet him. And the-then 18 year old Max almost cried out to his race engineer, saying, “There’s a giant lizard on the track, I’m not joking!

In reply to this, his race engineer joked, “You came face-to-face with Godzilla.”

The F1 cars always run with lightning fast speed and while Max Verstappen was safe in the cockpit of his Red Bull, the lizard was actually in danger of colliding with another car which was right on the tail of Verstappen’s. But fortunately, the “Godzilla” scampered off before any damage was done. And ever since then, the exchange between Max and his race engineer about the lizard became prime meme material for all the F1 fans across the world.

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