Jos Verstappen is a controversial figure whose personal life has often come to the surface for his violent acts with others. One such problematic instance happened in 2008 when he was arrested for alleged domestic violence while married to Max Verstappen’s mother, Sophie Kumpen.
He was never found guilty of violence but was guilty of sending threatening texts. In the recent documentary produced by Viaplay on the Red Bull superstar, a segment is dedicated to Jos‘ arrest.
The former F1 driver talked about his arrest and talked about how he is not proud of it even though nothing was found on him. Meanwhile, Max also shed his feelings on his father going to jail.
🗣️ | Jos Verstappen denies he ‘abused’ Max:
“There are people who say I’m a bad father because I abused my child, I never abused him!”
“I raised him, I was hard on him. That was my plan, many people cannot imagine what it takes to reach the absolute top level of a sport.” pic.twitter.com/xaXW1Hd5eS
— Verstappen News (@MV_Updates) April 5, 2023
Max Verstappen talks about his father going to jail
In a snippet from the documentary by Viaplay, Verstappen talks about visiting his father in jail. The arrest surely greatly impacted the aspiring F1 driver, and he talks about what he felt back then.
“Visiting him was weird of course to see your dad like that. It’s definitely one of the hardest times of my life,” said Verstappen. Though the Dutch race driver soon moved on from that.
He further reveals in the video that his father was not there for him in one race. Instead, he was in jail, but instead of crying, the young Verstappen went ahead with his competition. The same stoic personality is often observed in the Red Bull star to this day.
“sitting there on the other side of the glass is your father. that’s quite hard, especially for max”
i can’t even imagine. pic.twitter.com/vuGXPIxNy2
— conni (@VERCAPLESS) April 9, 2023
But it was hard
While Verstappen reveals how he overcame his familial setback, the two-time world champion’s manager Raymond Vermeulen reveals how hard it was for the young kid. He talks about how Verstappen had to see his dad on the other side of the glass, which was hard for the former.
Vermeulen talks about how once Verstappen had to go all the way to Italy, but his father was not there. It was strange as never before the two-time world champion had to be without his father during his karting competitions.
Nevertheless, the Verstappens have moved ahead from such tough times. In fact, things between Kupmen and Jos also seem to be alright as they are seen eating together with their son in another video from the documentary.
