From a very young age, Max Verstappen has been out on the road with his father, visiting various tracks around Europe to participate in karting events. During this time, Verstappen’s mother, Sophie Kumpen would be worrying about the well-being of her child. There would even be nights where she would just lay in bed, crying and afraid that she might lose her child.
Disclosing the pain she went through during Verstappen’s karting days, Kumpen revealed how things went from the darkest of thoughts to brighter times. There came a time when she had to let go of her son completely, not knowing if he would come home.
“There were many nights when I lay in bed crying. out of sadness, for the child I missed so much. I was often very afraid that I would lose him.”, she said in a 2016 interview after her son’s first F1 win.
sophie: “there were many nights when i lay in bed crying. out of sadness, for the child i missed so much. i was often very afraid that i would lose him. now that he is eighteen, i have the feeling that all that is changing.”
translation by thissying on tumblr pic.twitter.com/AAoq8PC3Q2
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) October 6, 2024
Once he turned 18, Verstappen Jr. came back home an F1 Grand Prix winner. It was at this moment his mother realized her worst fears had faded away and better times would be heading her way. The then 18-year-old started visiting Kumpen more often and her positive motherly feeling increased.
The now 48-year-old even recalled incidents where Verstappen would want to spend more time with her as he would suggest going out with her shopping. There was also a time when the Red Bull man needed to get his driver’s license, and he said he wanted to do it with Kumpen.
Besides this positive turnaround in the mother-son relationship, Kumpen’s relationship with Max’s father also improved after the 2016 Spanish GP win.
Kumpen and Jos Verstappen’s call after Spain 2016
When Verstappen won his maiden GP in Spain, his father Jos called Kumpen to share a proud and emotional moment. There had been differences between them, but in that moment, they shared the emotion of the race winner being their son.
While the former couple rarely called each other, the phone call after the Spanish GP in 2016 made their contact better.
As for their son, the Red Bull driver became the youngest-ever race winner in the history of F1. The Dutchman held off Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel to stun a crowd that was still overcoming the first-lap crash between the two Mercedes cars.
