[HN Gopher] Max Verstappen Is Still Too Young to Rent a Sports Car
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Max Verstappen Is Still Too Young to Rent a Sports Car
Author : rmason
Score : 17 points
Date : 2023-12-28 20:07 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.roadandtrack.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.roadandtrack.com)
| diggan wrote:
| I was gonna say that I'm happy that insurance companies are not
| making arbitrary exceptions just because someone is famous, but
| then the article finishes with:
|
| > While the original decision was a blanket choice that would
| have seemingly been made for any driver under 30, the brand has
| already apologized to Verstappen and added that the special
| circumstances of his racing resume would get him in any rental
| car he wanted in the future. In a statement shared with the Sun,
| a Sixt representative says that Verstappen "can rent the car he
| wants from us at any time."
|
| I wonder where the limit goes for how many races one must win
| before you count as an exception? If I've won ~5 local races
| (first position), can I also get an exception?
| Manfred wrote:
| I would assume they made this statement because they want to
| protect their brand and not because they think he is or isn't
| less likely to cause an accident.
| blasphemers wrote:
| I'm pretty sure they know he is a much better driver than
| anybody else renting the car and is less likely to be in an
| accident.
| dangus wrote:
| If he was in an accident the news articles mentioning the
| car rental brand would probably be worth enough to pay for
| the car.
| Detrytus wrote:
| He's also much more likely to drive it at 3x the speed
| limit. Also, the fact that he's Formula 1 driver actually
| works against him here: F1 cars that he is used to are far
| more sophisticated technology, and F1 tracks are not your
| regular highway, making it easy for Verstappen to end up at
| the side of the road, after overestimating his Mercedes'
| capabilities.
| blasphemers wrote:
| This may be the most absurd statement I've ever seen on
| this site.
| tracerbulletx wrote:
| You don't think a professional driver at the absolute
| pinnacle of his profession knows the difference between
| different types of cars...?
| iraqmtpizza wrote:
| I bet he knows fuck all about drum brakes lol. That has
| zero relevance to his profession. Boomers who have never
| been within half a mile of a race car know all about drum
| brakes.
| dharmab wrote:
| The man is one of the most obsessed car guys on the
| planet. Dude tunes his own iRacing setups between race
| weekends. He knew more about cars at 16 than everyone you
| and I will know in our lifetimes combined.
| dharmab wrote:
| Normally, I browse HN with uBlock rule that removes the
| comments section, because I don't have to see terrible
| takes like this.
| itishappy wrote:
| Worth noting that being a great driver does not necessarily
| make one a safe driver. A grandmother who drives 10mph
| under the speed limit back and forth from church could very
| easily be less likely to get into a wreck than a
| professional driver.
| justahuman74 wrote:
| I think people who drive 10 below increase the risk, as
| everyone has to weave around them
| rmason wrote:
| They made an exception because he was famous. Imagining they'd
| do the same thing for Taylor Swift if she was still under
| thirty.
|
| Also he made it clear that he was taking the car to the track
| which also violates the company's rules. I know that at the
| famous German Nurburgring race track you cannot take normal
| rented cars out there. If you want to do so they charge a
| premium of (if I remember) of 50% more. They trace their cars
| and if you do take a normal rental out on the track you will be
| charged quite a penalty.
| ithkuil wrote:
| He may just pay the premium. Why do you think he may be
| unwilling to pay the 50% extra?
| blasphemers wrote:
| I don't think they made an exception because he is famous,
| they made an exception because he is an extremely successful
| professional driver and I doubt they would make the same
| exception for Taylor Swift.
|
| Where do you get that it violates the company rules? The
| Nurburgring is a public road that doesn't have rules against
| rental cars and it's pretty common for people to take rental
| cars on it.
| rmason wrote:
| There are two kinds of rentals, normal rental cars and
| rental cars at a premium price that are equipped for track
| use and carry extra insurance. People do it but normal
| rental cars aren't allowed on the track per the contract.
|
| https://www.rhinocarhire.com/Car-Hire-
| Blog/September-2019/Ca...
| t0mas88 wrote:
| You can take a rental car there, the track itself has no
| rules against it. Several companies in the area have
| specific cars for rent to use on the ring.
|
| But for a normal Hertz/Sixt etc rental car you can run into
| insurance issues if you crash. Because circuit / race /
| timed use is excluded and damage to the track is as well
| (which is common on the ring and expensive).
|
| Cars specific for ring use have insurance that includes it,
| but usually with a relatively high excess. Expect to pay
| the first few thousand yourself if you crash.
| blasphemers wrote:
| I don't think having an exception for any high-level
| professional driver, regardless of their win count, is an
| arbitrary exception when it comes to renting sports cars.
| ric2b wrote:
| They do crash much more often than the average driver,
| though.
| Ekaros wrote:
| There might be also some net wealth exception. That is do you
| have enough money even if the insurance does not pay...
| t0mas88 wrote:
| It's probably more a financial exception. If some other
| celebrity shows up with enough money and no driving experience
| they would also rent it. Sixt would just not cover it under
| their insurance.
| em500 wrote:
| Max Verstappen was also too young to drive on public roads in his
| native countries (Netherlands/Belgium where minimum age was 18)
| when he debuted in Formula One at age 17.
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(page generated 2023-12-28 23:01 UTC)