“Cheating Again?”: Max Verstappen Faces the Brunt of Brutal Fans as American Giant Nike Wins Legal Battle to Establish Their Authority

Max Verstappen has been in blistering form for the last couple of years. The Dutchman started the 2023 season in a similar fashion. In fact, many believe Verstappen will clinch his third championship title with relative ease. What can the Dutchman not do? Well, as per recent reports, Verstappen cannot name his clothing brand how he’d like. This completely arbitrary scenario came to pass when footwear giant Nike came into play.

The Red Bull man wanted to secure his future and invest his millions into a new venture. This led to Verstappen deciding to start his own clothing brand. However, the Dutchman faced an obstacle in the very first step of the way. Verstappen planned to name his brand “Max1”. As reported by PlanetF1, Nike did not like that idea as they believe the name bears similarities to their Nike: Air Max shoe range.

The veteran brand took the issue up with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the region’s trademark agency. BOIP agreed with Nike and ruled in the company’s favor serving a rare loss for Verstappen in a statement. “The goods in question (Nike and Max) are partly identical and partly similar. Visually and aurally, there is a certain degree of similarity between the signs,” read the statement. 

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After the statement made its way to Twitter, the fans instantly started brutally mocking the Dutchman.

Fans show no mercy to Max Verstappen for his attempts to start a clothing brand

The fans did not spare Verstappen with their brutally honest and harsh opinion of Verstappen starting his own clothing brand. The mockery began with how the Red Bull team will react to the news.

The banter then took a turn and fans personally attacked Verstappen’s style. The Dutchman is used to facing criticism for his actions on track, however, this is completely new territory even for him.

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Not just his style, or the lack of it, fans also mocked the proposed name. Some pointed out how he plans to drive the No.1 car as some called the labeled the name horrendous. Despite all the criticism, we have a feeling Verstappen will come out with his clothing brand, we just have to wait for a new name.