Max Verstappen addressed how he missed the chance to pay for the Formula 1 drivers’ traditional end-of-season dinner ahead of the Abu Dhabi finale.
Away from the F1 circuit, most of the grid get along surprisingly well. That camaraderie has given rise to an end-of-season tradition.
Before the final race in Abu Dhabi, the drivers gather for a private dinner. It happens every year. And every year, the same question returns. Who pays the bill?
With so many drivers and such an exclusive setting, the final number is never small.
Logic might suggest that the reigning champion should step up. But when the drivers met ahead of the finale at Yas Marina, Verstappen was not the one reaching for his wallet.
Instead, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly settled the bill. Verstappen later explained how events unfolded and how he had been prepared to cover the costs.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” ventured Verstappen in the Talking Bull podcast. “Last year, Valtteri [Bottas] was very nice. He paid the bill.
“The drivers then made some jokes, ‘This year it’s Max’s turn’. And I said, ‘Yes, of course’.”
“But I was sitting on the other side of the entrance to the private room. Most of the evening, you’re sitting around having a good laugh, and then suddenly, people want to leave.
“Then we realised Pierre had already paid for dinner.”
That explanation quickly led to jokes about convenient timing. Verstappen was asked whether he disappeared when the bill arrived.
“No. I drank my gin and tonics on the other side,” he added.
The four-time champion admits the situation was awkward. He now plans to remove any doubt next time.
“I think next time, before I come in, I should say, ‘I’ll pay the bill at the end of the evening’, so I can finally actually pay.
“Normally I’m very generous with this kind of thing. I just haven’t been able to pay yet. But I’m sure we’ll eat again next year, so I’ll get there eventually.”
Suggestions of splitting the bill evenly or letting chance decide have been tried before. Verstappen remembers one such attempt early in his career.
“As to whether the drivers should all throw their credit cards in the middle of the table, and let the waiter grab one, he said: “I remember that happening once when I was just starting out, in 2015 or 2016.
“That looks a little bad, so it’s better if one person commits to it.
“And you don’t make a rookie pay, as a matter of course. That’s pretty obvious. I think it always starts with the more experienced drivers.”
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