In the past few months, whenever Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have been mentioned in the same sentence, it’s been because of their Red Bull dominance. The original Red Bull driver and the current face of Red Bull—dominant forces in their own time. Earlier this year, though, Max Verstappen surpassed a seemingly unbreakable record Vettel set in 2013. The Dutchman won a magnificent 10 races in a row. The best part? He had Vettel cheering him on as he did it. At the Mexican GP, Verstappen unknowingly paid tribute to the driver who defined Red Bull for so long.

Radio comms. They’re a treat to listen to. Some of Vettel and Verstappen’s most iconic moments have come courtesy of the recorded airwaves. And of all the ways Verstappen has been compared to Vettel recently, a certain radio message in Mexico added just another layer to their similarities.

Max Verstappen brought Brazil 2018 to the Mexican GP

Speaking of iconic moments on the radio, the Red Bull champions have had quite a few over the years. Be it Vettel saying, “What are we doing, racing or ping-pong?” or Verstappen’s banter with GP (his race engineer) or even Christian Horner saying exactly the same thing to Vettel and Verstappen when they became world champions for the first time—“Sebastian Vettel/Max Verstappen, you are the world champion! The world champion!” As high as all these radio comms’ recall value is, few beat Vettel’s hilarious message from 2018.

After leaving Red Bull, Vettel joined Ferrari. Although he couldn’t match his Red Bull success there, the Maranello tenure sure was a memorable one. At least when it comes to the things Vettel said on the radio. During FP2 at the 2018 Brazilian GP, Vettel said, “There’s something loose between my legs. Apart from the obvious. Something is flying around my feet.” He found that it was only a screw moving around the cockpit. Unlike the short-lived life of the screw in the cockpit, Vettel’s message lives rent-free in almost every fan’s mind.

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At the 2023 Mexican GP, Verstappen unknowingly recreated the scene. As he got onto the track in FP1, he felt something moving in the cockpit. “I need to box! There is something in between my feet that is loose,” he explained to Christian Horner & Co. The team brought him in and five minutes later, the Dutchman was back on track. While that problem didn’t rear itself again, the similarity between Vettel’s and Verstappen’s messages sure did.

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Nostalgia. It’s like ever since Vettel hung up his boots, he’s rekindled his loving relationship with Red Bull. Nostalgia may have brought to light all the good times between them, but it’s also brought back memories of when Red Bull (mainly Verstappen) wasn’t in the German’s good books.

Vettel put Verstappen in his place at the 2016 Mexican GP

Verstappen and Vettel are on very good terms right now. When the Dutchman broke Vettel’s nine-race-winning streak at the Italian GP this year, Vettel was one of the first people to congratulate him. He even said how Verstappen could extend the streak further so that the record would always stay with Red Bull. While he may have only nice things to say about Verstappen now, that wasn’t the case when he was still racing. During his time at Ferrari, the two butted heads quite often, and Vettel wasn’t a fan of it. One instance happened at the 2016 Mexican GP.

Verstappen, Vettel, and Daniel Ricciardo (Verstappen’s then-teammate) were fighting for the final podium place. Going into a braking zone, Verstappen out-braked himself, cut the corner, and rejoined the track ahead of Vettel. Ideally, he should’ve given Vettel the position, instead, he backed the German into Ricciardo. Ultimately, Verstappen crossed the line in P3, and Vettel was less than pleased. Verstappen made it up to the cool-down room when he got a five-second penalty, and Vettel bumped him out of the podium, claiming his spot in the top three.

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Did you think of the Sebastian Vettel connection when you heard Max Verstappen’s radio at the Mexican GP?