Footage is circulating on social media of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen appearing to break the French speed limit whilst driving a £2.7million Aston Martin ‘hyper car’.
The two-time world champion has been enjoying some time off at the height of the Formula One season, holidaying in Sardinia with his F1 scion girlfriend Kelly Piquet last week.
But the undated video appears to show the Monaco-based driver back in his Riviera homeland as he drives at blistering pace down the A8 motorway.
Filmed by his friend Mark Cox, who posted the video to Instagram, the Dutch driver is seen maneuvering the Aston Martin Valkyrie through the motorway’s Canta-Galet tunnel on the outskirts of Nice.
But the two-time world champion flouted the speed regulations with his 124km/h tunnel drive
Speed restrictions in tunnels such as Canta-Galet is reduced further to 55mph (77km/h) in the region.
But the 25-year-old paid no heed to the motorway’s regulations as he cruised out of the tunnel into the Cote d’Azur sunshine one-handed, in the left lane – in contravention of the Highway Code.
Verstappen was also sporting helicopter-grade headphones, which come as standard with the Adrian Newey-designed behemoth due to the noise made by the car’s 12-cylinder engine.
Drivers are alerted to road signals and sirens by a microphone outside of the car that feeds sound through to the noise-cancelling headphones.
Wearing headphones whilst driving is prohibited in France, and Nice-Matin speculated that it wouldn’t be implausible if Verstappen were to be prosecuted for the release of the video.
Many fans have expressed their anger at the video, with some commenting that he was ‘endangering the lives of others’ with his behaviour.
Taking in the views of the Alpes-Maritimes could suggest that the driver is in a hurry to return to the track ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, his home race.
But despite looking a shoo-in for a third consecutive title, Verstappen has cut an at-times pessimistic figure in interviews, frequently hinting at the possibility of early retirement.
In late April, he criticised the calendar and warned about potential burnout, saying: ‘If we keep expanding the calendar and the whole weekend is that long, at one point you question yourself, “is it worth it?”
In the last race before the break, victory at Spa marked Verstappen’s eighth consecutive win
But the driver has warned about the perils of burnout and hinted at a life away from the sport
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‘I do like racing, I do like winning. I know that of course the salary and everything, you have a good life, but is it actually a good life? I think sometimes you get to a point in your career where maybe you want to do other stuff.
‘I know that I have a contract until the end of 2028, and then we’ll review again. But I do feel that if it’s getting at one point too much, then it’s time for a change.’
At the midpoint in the season, Verstappen tops the drivers standings with a towering 314 points.
His closest rival is team-mate Sergio Perez, who has accrued a comparatively paltry 189.
