Credits: IMAGO / Michael Potts
Jos Verstappen leaving a young Max at a gas station following the latter’s inability to win a karting race is a popular and infamous story. This gave Jos a villainous reputation, for being harsh on his son. Per Max, however, what many don’t realize is that he did all of this to make him better than himself. To make sure Max becomes successful in F1.
Looking back on his karting days in a documentary, Max said,
“They really shape you for the rest of your life. He [Jos Verstappen] wanted me to be better than him and to achieve more than he did. That’s exactly what’s happening at the moment. I can never see fully as me. When I win races, it’s a ‘we’ not a ‘me’”
Jos didn’t have the most successful career in F1, driving mostly for backmarkers or midfield teams. In his rookie year, he scored two podiums with Benetton – which would remain his only top three finishes throughout his F1 stint.
Still, Jos drove alongside some great drivers, including seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. As such, he knew what it took to get to the top of F1 and decided to inculcate his learnings into Max.
Today, Max is a three-time World Champion and his father doesn’t feel the need to be as strict with him anymore. Jos knows it is time for his son to have his own spotlight, and refuses to take credit for his victories.
However, Jos played a crucial role in getting Max where he is today. A former coach also pointed out how Max mastered racing, long before he got to the pinnacle of motorsports.
Liam Lawson’s Manager was surprised by Max Verstappen’s incredibly developed racing sense
Max’s father Jos was an F1 driver, but his mom Sophie Kumpen too, developed a serious reputation in the world of racing. She was an avid karting driver, having beaten the likes of Jenson Button in the past. Both of Max’s parents being racers certainly helped him develop good genes, something Enzo Mucci pointed out.
Mucci, who is Liam Lawson’s manager and a reputed racing coach, reveals Verstappen’s prowess at an early age. As quoted by F1 Maximaal, he said,
“I saw Max trying to rotate the car going into that corner, but that didn’t work. The next lap he drove over the curbs at the apex of the corner, causing the rear of the car to break out. It was a bit of a karting style but in Formula 3. It was really beautiful. I was standing there like, Oooh, he’s figuring this out at the age of fifteen. We are doomed”.
Just two years after the incident Mucci narrated, Verstappen found his way into F1. He became the youngest driver in the sport’s history at just 17 and has gone on to establish himself as one of the legends of F1.
