Throwback photo of Max Verstappen and Tom Holland spotlights a Spider-Man: Brand New Day twist
Tom Holland and Max Verstappen set the internet buzzing with a head-scratcher, and fans are dying to know if the whole thing’s actually been put to bed.
It was a throwback from the Red Bull garage: a masked-up Tom Holland shoulder to shoulder with Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 paddock. Posted to X by the @VerstappenCOM account, the snap came with a winking two-word caption aimed squarely at the movie crowd.
“V-Max?”
The in-joke lands if you’ve seen the new Spider- Man: Brand New Day , released in July. In the film, characters spend a big chunk of the story chasing a mysterious device called V‑Max—only to discover it’s just a busted “Vent Max” label on an air-conditioning unit. Fans had already been joking online that V‑Max might secretly stand for “Verstappen Max,” so the post was Verstappen giving the internet exactly what it wanted.
Why fans got it instantly
As the photo made the rounds, the comments filled up with Spider-Man/F1 crossovers. One user summed up the running gag that’s been bouncing around since opening weekend:
“And I thought V Max was Verstappen Max,”
There’s no actual cameo or collab hiding here—no indication that Verstappen pops up in the film, and Peter Parker isn’t joining a pit crew. It’s simply a well-timed nod to a spoiler-y punchline that’s become part of the movie’s post-release chatter.
The timing didn’t hurt either. With F1 in a quieter stretch before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in early September, teams often surface celebrity paddock memories to keep feeds lively while everyone gears up for race week.