Max Verstappen is the kind of person who doesn’t get bothered easily. He is a very practical and no-nonsense racing driver, whether he is winning or not, or if he is making history. We witnessed Max Verstappen run through the Formula 1 record books in 2023. He registered his name in at least 18 entries for either breaking or equaling some record. But for the Dutchman, the season was all about managing the pace out there in the front and doing exactly what was expected of him. But his victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix had us witnessing something unusual.

Verstappen’s win at Interlagos was his 17th of the season. It was a significant one because, with that, he went past the highest win percentage over a season in Formula 1 set in 1952 by Alberto Ascari. To congratulate Max on his victory lap, Red Bull played a classic song on the radio that Verstappen reluctantly tried to sing along to as he parked his victorious RB19. However, he was recently asked about his affinity for listening to music, which revealed the Dutchman’s unusually low interest in music.

Max Verstappen doesn’t need to listen to music when he’s home

When Red Bull played the popular country song from the 1960s, Green Green Grass of Home, over Verstappen’s team radio, it became clear that the Dutchman was a fan of the iconic Welsh singer, Tom Jones. Otherwise, the team wouldn’t have played something Max doesn’t like. However, during a recent interview with Formule1.NL, when asked about the song over team radio in Brazil, Verstappen made it clear that he doesn’t listen to music all that much.

“I hardly ever listen to music. Not even for a race. I know that other athletes do it to relax or to recharge. I don’t feel that need at all. I sometimes play music in the car when I have to go somewhere, but that’s about it. No, not even during training or during boring, mind-numbing endurance runs,” said the Dutchman.

He denied listening to much music when he’s home either, saying that Kelly Piquet‘s daughter and his cats are enough sources of entertainment. “No, actually very little. It’s mainly the TV that’s on. I don’t need to have music on for the atmosphere. There is always an atmosphere in the tent with the little one (Penelope, the daughter of his girlfriend Kelly Piquet, ed.) running around or the cats terrorizing each other.”

But if Max is so little interested in music, why did the team play that particular song during his win? Is this song related to Max somehow?

Christian Horner revealed why Red Bull played Tom Jones’ Green Green Grass of Home

Despite saying he was “not a good singer,” Verstappen promptly sang along with the lyrics of the song on his way back to the pits in Brazil. When his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, humorously told him over the radio, “Just don’t give up the day job,” Verstappen responded, “I think I’m better at that!” However, the choice of the song remained a mystery.

Read More: Weeks After Singing Along to Tom Jones’ Tunes, Max Verstappen Adds Elvis Presley to the Winning Playlist

It was team boss Christian Horner who later explained why the team chose that song. He revealed that Verstappen and his father, Jos, used to play Tom Jones tracks during Max’s early karting days. “We learned today something else about Max: that when he used to head back from the kart races, his father used to play Tom Jones tracks over and over again.”

Horner recalled asking Jos Verstappen about Max’s favorite song, expecting a modern choice. Much to his surprise, Jos mentioned “Green, Green Grass” by Tom Jones. And that’s how the musical celebration came about.

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Did you ever peg Max Verstappen as someone with a leaning towards classical hits? I certainly didn’t.