12-Year-Old Max Verstappen Beat His Dad by 26 Seconds in 2009 F1 Game – “He Practiced While I Was at School”

Max Verstappen was a force to reckon with during his junior karting days, winning championships all over Europe, with his father Jos guiding him in the process. His competitiveness in racing was evident even while playing games for leisure. There was a time when a young Max dominated his father in the 2009 F1 game and beat him by 26 seconds.

In a video dating back to when Max was just 12 years old, a reporter told the Dutchman that he finished 26 seconds ahead of his dad in their gaming session. “Nobody was expecting that I think,” he said.

Max, however, blunt as he is now, replied, “I don’t think so, but I was expecting it myself. Because at home, the gap was even bigger. But my dad had practiced in the morning when I was at school.” 

12 year old Max on beating Jos by 26 seconds in the 2009 F1 game: I was expecting it myself, because at home the gap was even bigger. But my dad had practiced in the morning when I was at school. So the gap decreased a little, but it is still 26 seconds. So I said I’m not worried
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His confident statements about beating his father, be it in a game, sound quite similar to his straightforward interviews in F1. Besides, at such a young age, the fact that Verstappen outperformed his father — a former F1 driver — by such a huge margin, was truly special.

While sim racing games were not as popular as the present day when Jos Verstappen raced back in the 90s, he would have certainly expected to beat his 12-year-old son at a game based on his sport. It only speaks volumes about Max’s talents and competitiveness which was the foundation of the immense success that he has achieved today.

And not many people around him doubted his potential to do big things. Jos for one, was always his biggest supporter, although sometimes, the way he handled things was scrutinized heavily.

Jos and Max’s relationship

After he became an established F1 star, certain stories from Max’s childhood came up which made the F1 community think that Jos was being rather harsh on his son.

Verstappen never complained, and admitted that his father being strict was what turned him into the star driver that he is today. Jos would be unhappy with Max even when he finished second in races. As such, from an early age, the Red Bull ace would only go for victories, and deemed everything else bad.

Jos, however, never admitted to ill-treating his son. “I never abused him! I raised him, I was hard on him. That was my plan.”

The Verstappen father-son duo went through a lot together. They spent weeks on the road, hoping to make it big in F1 someday, and when Max finally achieved his dream of becoming world champion in 2021, they had a warm and emotional embrace, knowing that their sacrifices were worth it.