Max plays badminton against Ricciardo: "A really good excercise"
Published on 11 April 2018 by Julien Lemmen
The Chinese Grand Prix is on the program this weekend and, as usual, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing organised a nice activity for its drivers before the weekend kicks off.
F1 drivers are famed for their razor sharp reactions and hand-eye co-ordination. RBR decided to see just how sharp their drivers really are. They put Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo to the test with a day of badminton, a big local sport in China. At the tippy top of the topmost in China is Wang Yihan.
The Chinese ace is an eight-time world champion and held the number one spot in the women’s ranking for a staggering 116 weeks straight, so there could be no better tutor (or tougher adversary) for Max and Daniel in the Lark Sports Centre in Shanghai.
After a warm-up and practice session, during which the boys picked up some good racquet techniques, they were set to take their first test – the Goal Challenge.
Each driver selected two fans from the audience who’d been invited along to see the drivers in action and then Max and Daniel took it in turns to act as a goalkeeper, attempting to deflect as many shots as possible from the opposing team. And at the end of a veritable blizzard of shuttlecocks, Daniel emerged victorious.
After that it was a test of power, with each driver attempting to deliver the fastest smash. With a top recorded speed of 359km/h, the boys were never going to challenge Wang Yihan, and she duly set them a sky-high target of almost 320 km/h. Neither driver could match it but once again Daniel came out on top in the battle of the bulls.
After that it was time to get down to some proper matchplay, with the drivers first pairing up to try to beat Wang. The first side to seven points would win, and though it was close, the eight-time champion again won the day. Next the drivers played a doubles match with a player from Tong Ji University and in the driver contest Daniel made it three from three as his team won out.
The final challenge, and definitely the most fun from a spectator’s point of view, was the catch test. This one saw racquets swapped for bamboo baskets, one of which was strapped to each driver’s back. The challenge was to run around catching as many shuttlecocks as possible in a minute, as a hailstorm of feathered targets rained down on them courtesy of the other players.
On the back foot after three less than glorious rounds, Max went hell for leather and while the results weren’t exactly elegant, they were hilarious.
Max though was magnanimous in defeat. “It was a lot of fun. I haven’t played for a long time, but coming off a plane, I think it was really good exercise. I was good at the catching at the end though!”
Click here for the Chinese GP contest and win a signed grey Max Verstappen cap!
