2023-06-30 04:01:03
A couple of robots that connect people from abroad with the Formula 1 paddock and a band of Tyrolean musicians liven up the afternoon at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the charming circuit that hosts the ninth round of the Formula 1 calendar. It’s Tirol , but it could well be the canals of Amsterdam.
It’s a tide of ‘orange army’ T-shirts, Dutch fans coming out from under the rocks and colonizing this part of the world. It is the phenomenon that moves Max Verstappen, the world champion and leader of the World Cup.
«We are not a very expressive people, but for us it is a pride that a great event like Formula 1 is held in our country. Let’s hope that Verstappen will do his job », says Odin, an employee at a car rental company at the Vienna airport.
Red Bull has united two towns, Austria and the Netherlands, due to the irruption of a champion like Verstappen. In reality, it is a colonization because the fans of the old Holland have collapsed the circuits of Europe for a couple of seasons, since Verstappen overtook Hamilton in Abu Dhabi and became champion.
The epicenter of this weekend is Spielberg, a small town on the way to Innsbruck or Salzburg that is home to one of the most modern tracks of the season, the Red Bull Ring.
The surroundings of the circuit are owned by the orange marabunta, hundreds of caravans dressed in the country’s colors, countrymen from the mills who proudly wear the shirt that identifies them. Boisterous, but not badass, and with remarkable purchasing power that allows them to travel with Formula 1 during the summer stops. Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, maybe England.
country pride
“Max has put our country’s name on high. As sports fans we like to travel, to football, to the Tour, we are very active and we love to travel, but Max Verstappen is something else. Pride of country”, says Louis, a Dutchman who eats a huge plate of chops in one of the caravans.
The old Dutch have an advantage, the travel agency ‘Max Verstappen official travel’. A company that reserves a platform for them in one of the calendar circuits to support their idol. Austria is one of them.
Verstappen is the Alonso of Spain fifteen years ago. He is everywhere in his country. He has managed to get an old circuit in the Netherlands, Zandvoort, renewed to be included in the World Cup.
The pilot has contracts with Jumbo supermarkets, with the Ziggo telecommunications group, with the G-Star RAW clothing brand, with the Exact software publisher and with the used vehicle seller CarNext.com.
A money making machine that in this part of the world, in Austria, he will have a fervent fan base to support him.
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