RED BULL DRIVERS A CUT ABOVE THE REST

Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s drivers have already proved themselves to be a cut above the rest going into this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. Switching their racing overalls for lumberjack shirts, the quartet of Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon tried their hands at becoming expert wood cutters for the day.

The four drivers were guided through the art of being a lumberjack by Shea Emery, a leading logger sports competitor and former Canadian Football League linebacker, in a 45-minute masterclass. They then each tried their luck at wood chopping in the Canadian woodland, unsurprisingly with mixed results with saw and axe in hand. In addition, Emery taught them the skill of axe throwing causing competition, as ever, to creep in among the two teams’ drivers.

Max Verstappen said: "We’ve been up to a lot of things with axes today. It was my first time trying this out so it was good to have a few lessons. I’ve never chopped wood before, so it was a lot of fun for me today. I really enjoyed having a go at being a lumberjack. I don’t think I’m very good at it but at least we gave it a good shot. It’s hard and heavy work so now I can really appreciate what they do."

Pierre Gasly, added: "It was my first time to do any of this stuff and it was good to discover. I was pretty excited to see how it would go. I would rate my skills as minus two though! I think I was ok. These guys are super strong, super physical. For drivers, it’s not our type of thing really but it was good fun. We won, which is the most important thing at the end of the day! It was good."

The two teams’ drivers’ previous pre-Canadian Grand Prix initiations had included white-water rafting, ice hockey and even mountain biking. It begs the question what’s in store for 2020?