Max Verstappen was left to rue the smell of marijuana in Las Vegas as the Red Bull driver joked that he was “quite high in the car” during qualifying on Saturday
Max Verstappen hilariously claimed he was “quite high in the car” due to the strong scent of marijuana during his Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying drive.
After sealing fourth on the grid and crucially outpacing F1 title rival Lando Norris, the Red Bull ace was one of several drivers who wafted complaints about the smell of cannabis, which is a legal substance in the state of Nevada. Sergio Perez and Franco Colapinto mentioned the pungent aroma on Friday, and Verstappen echoed their sentiments the following day.
“Today you smelled it quite well. I was quite high in the car,” he joked to Dutch outlet Telegraaf. “It’s not ideal, because you can also smell it while driving and it’s quite extreme.”
The racing world’s strict anti-doping rules forbid drug use, but there’s no suggestion of any driver coming to harm from the Sin City circuit’s airs. While cannabis, which is a B-class banned substance in the UK, is legal in Nevada, F1 fans are prohibited from bringing the drug to the circuit.
Nonetheless, many obviously sneaked their personal supplies past security, and Colapinto playfully suggested a potential headache for officials. “Yes, there was a smell of weed,” the Williams driver confirmed, before quipping: “If they dope [test] the drivers now, I think we’ll all test positive, I swear – when we all test positive, there will be a mess.”
Red Bull’s Perez said: “What is very noticeable around the circuit is the smell of marijuana throughout the night. I’m a bit tired of it already – the amount is incredible. It’s something all the drivers will definitely talk about.”
Meanwhile, his team-mate Verstappen remained upbeat despite the unusual distraction and expressed contentment with the team’s performance. “We tried to do the best we could,” the Dutchman told Sky Sports F1.
“We worked well together. We tried a lot of different things to see what was the right direction. I think what we did was the right direction but still clearly not enough to fight for pole. I’m still quite happy. We are still in front of McLaren, which for me is a bit of a surprise but I’m quite happy with how qualifying went and my laps.”
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