“Finishing second is terrible”: Max Verstappen recalls father Jos’ harsh assessment for drivers finishing second in races

Max Verstappen has been on top of F1 for the last two seasons. In 2021, he finally showed the world that he can compete at the highest level by going toe to toe for the World Championship with seven-time winner Lewis Hamilton. 2022, meanwhile, has been a walk in the park for the Dutchman.

Verstappen won 15 races in a season that he dominated completely on his way to securing his second consecutive World Championship win. His competitiveness and fighting spirit have earned him plenty of plaudits, and a huge part of the credit goes to his father Jos Verstappen.

Jos’ parenting stories have not been popular among F1 fans, who feel that he treated Max very harshly. However, a lot of people feel that Verstappen is as good as he is today, only because of his strict father. One of the most important but harsh lessons his father taught him was to never aim for second place in races.

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Second place is the first loser, Max Verstappen learned from his father

In an interview featuring both Verstappen Sr. and his son, the reporter asked the latter whether he would prefer an uneventful & dull race victory or fight for positions over the course of 50 laps and finish second. Unsurprisingly, Verstappen chose the first option and immediately followed it up by stating that finishing second was ‘terrible’.

Verstappen revealed that he thought finishing second was equivalent to being the first loser of the race. This was something that his father Jos used to tell him during his racing career, and Verstappen held on to this ideology. As soon as he said this during the interview, Jos Verstappen rolled his eyes, in agreement with what was said.

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Verstappen explains why he doesn’t use neck padding during races

An F1 driver needs to have a strong neck, because of the G force they experience while driving at high speeds. This is also felt in the junior Formula 1 categories, but not as much as F1, so drivers grow up using a neck pad to protect themselves from getting hurt or to prevent any muscle pain.

Verstappen, however, has never used a neck padding, because of what his father said. During an F3 race in Valencia, Jos told his son that the padding was a ‘p*ssy padding’. Those words stuck in the 25-year-old’s head, and he refused to wear one for the remainder of his career.

In the interview he even admitted that he would rather have his head fall off than wear the padding.