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Springbok captain surprises Verstappen at Japanese GP

Max Verstappen had high hopes to bring some good cheer at Honda's home grand prix, but his race ended early due to a collision. But SA's Springbok captain Siya Kolisi came and made his day.

It was a bit touch and go this weekend in Suzuka as Typhoon Hagibis left 26 people dead, and turned the Japanese GP on its head, as well as seeing several matches cancelled in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but qualifying and the race went ahead.

Red Bull was not as fast as the four cars ahead of them in qualifying and Red Bull landed up in the third row on the grid in P5 and P6.

While Alex Albon finished in his career best position in fourth place, Verstappen was not so lucky.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc caused a collision on Turn 2 and sent the Red Bull flying off the track, making him go from P5 all the way down to P17. 

To say that Verstappen was not impressed, was an understatement. His car suffered too much damage and saw Verstappen retire in Lap 15.

But at least he had a surprise visit from a big fan, SA's own Siya Kolisi. The 'Bok captain is a huge petrolhead. We recently discovered this earlier in May when Kolisi spent the weekend at the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb in Knysna. Kolisi is clearly a Red Bull F1 fan as he visited the team's paddock this weekend before the race to meet his favourite driver.



Kolisi not only got to shake hands with Verstappen, but he also gifted the driver a Springbok jersey. Just a pity it brought him no luck in the race.

The Springboks will face off against Japan in the Rugby World Cup quarter finals this weekend.

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