Verstappen unveiled helmet for three home stages

      Max Verstappen considers three of the next five stages of the season to be his "home", and for good reason. The upcoming Austrian Grand Prix will be held at the Red Bull Ring, a race will be held at the Belgian Spa circuit at the end of July, a four-time world champion was born in Belgium, and finally, the first stage after the summer break, the Dutch Grand Prix, will be hosted by the circuit in Zandvoort.

      Strictly speaking, the British Grand Prix in July can also be included in the same category, because the Red Bull Racing team is based in Milton Keynes, and from there it's only a 30-40-minute drive to the Silverstone circuit. However, when Verstappen presented his new helmet today and accompanied it with the words "As always, very special!", he supplemented his short comment with only three flags: Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

      In other words, it should be understood this way: at the stages in Great Britain and Hungary, he will perform in his usual helmet, and he has prepared a new one for the other three. First of all, the bright red-orange design details on a traditional dark blue background are striking. It seems that the helmet glows in the dark, although it's probably just the effects of studio photography.

      After ten stages of the season, Max takes third place in the personal standings, losing to the leader, Oscar Piastri, 43 points and 21 to Lando Norris, the second McLaren driver. At the same time, Verstappen already has 11 penalty points accumulated over the previous 12 months, i.e. it is enough for him to commit a serious enough violation of the rules again, and he may be disqualified for one race.

      However, if nothing of the kind happens in Austria, then two of these 11 points will "burn out", and the risk of similar consequences it will decrease somewhat.