Count the Broncos among those on board with the ever-growing Formula One craze, as evidenced by a unique play call named after one of the sport’s most famous faces.
Week 11’s Vikings-Broncos game in primetime featured an unexpected crossover that had NFL and F1 fans in a frenzy just before halftime. As Denver drove downfield with 47 seconds to play, NBC mics picked up an interesting audible from quarterback Russell Wilson.
The call? “Max Verstappen, Max Verstappen,” yelled Wilson, in an ode to F1’s three-time reigning world champion that may make fellow F1 driver and Broncos minority owner Lewis Hamilton a little salty:
Broncos brought out the "Max Verstappen" audible pic.twitter.com/HidoMbH1Vg
— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2023
After claiming Sunday’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, Verstappen’s already sweltering popularity took another step forward with American audiences. And based on the reactions, the Broncos may have also gained a few new fans in the process:
😭🤣 this is amazing on 10 different levels https://t.co/jxufiwj5Eg
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) November 20, 2023
Has Lewis Hamilton heard about this?? https://t.co/LlDCZv4wQ9
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) November 20, 2023
Wait, that's not the F1 driver that's part of the #Broncos ownership group. https://t.co/6NNkQlIgZA
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) November 20, 2023
Broncos owner Lewis Hamilton is not gonna like this... https://t.co/QwYt24hITL
— Tyler King (@King_TylerB) November 20, 2023
Did I hear that right? Russell Wilson with a playcall of "Max Verstappen" 😂
— Stef Mina (@stef_the_greek) November 20, 2023