Getting down and dirty down under

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Just because there's no Grand Prix over the Easter weekend doesn't mean that Formula 1 drivers past and present aren't finding ways to get their speed kicks!

Here's a picture shared by Max Verstappen on social media, showing him resting up with a couple of mates after a wild and muddy mountain bike run in New Zealand.

In this case, Verstappen's mates are of course Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber. Verstappen's cheeky comment on the photo says, "Turns out these guys are pretty fast on two wheels as well"! It's something of a 'past, present and future' portrait for the Red Bull Racing team.

Webber raced for the team from 2007 until 2013. And Verstappen has 38 races under his belt for the team since his promotion to the senior squad at the start of 2016. As for Hartley, he made his Formula 1 début with Toro Rosso in last year's United States Grand Prix.

The Kiwi is yet to score points in five outings. However if he can find the same form that took him to victory in last year's Le Mans race with Porsche, then Hartley could be the next driver for Red Bull should Daniel Ricciardo decide to leave at the end of the year.

Talking of Ricciardo, it's a bit of a surprise that he missed out on all the mud splatter. Too busy drinking champagne from his race boot perhaps?

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.