Max Verstappen was mentored by his father, Jos, during the early stages of his career. The Red Bull driver credits his success to the efforts his dad—a former F1 driver—invested in helping him get better. However, that doesn’t mean Max shied away from rubbing his accomplishments in his father’s face.
In an older interview when Max was just 16, he was asked about having more championships than Jos did. Max revealed that he had playfully reminded his dad of his superiority, noting that Jos had started the competition in the first place.
“He started with that because I became European Champion for the first time and said, ‘I became European Champion twice in a year’. When I won my second European title I immediately walked up to him and said, ‘Now we’re even’,” said a 16-year-old Max.
He also stated how he immediately went to his father after winning the Karting World Championship in the same year (2013). “When I went inside, I said, ‘Now I’m better than you, over a whole year’,”.
mini max destroying his dad. the way he walked up to his dad like “now i won more than u” pic.twitter.com/rBpmXVslcU
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) October 7, 2024
Fast forward a decade, and Max is now a three-time World Champion, with a chance of winning his fourth this year. He has accomplished what both he and his father had envisioned for him.
However, to become the driver he is today, Max had to endure a difficult childhood, and Jos played a significant role in that. He was strict with Max, believing it was the only way for his son to be the best.
Sources have recounted stories of how Jos would take Max out for kart training in freezing temperatures, making it difficult for him to even grip the steering wheel properly. In a particularly famous incident, Jos once abandoned Max at a gas station after he failed to win a karting race.
Max would outperform his father as a child
In the same interview, Max was asked who would come out on top if they faced off against each other in equal karts. He replied, “Well, I think, in a kart I may, I think, well I think I could handle him.”
It wouldn’t have been a new feeling for Max, as he had already beaten his father by a mile at the age of 12— although it was in a video game.
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
byu/OutlandishnessPure2 informula1
Max beat Jos by 26 seconds in the F1 2009 game. And when he was later asked about the gap during an interview, Max bluntly remarked, “I was expecting it myself. Because at home, the gap was even bigger.”
It turned out that Jos had attempted to close the gap by practicing while Max was at school. But that wasn’t enough to bring him anywhere close to his son.
