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“Max was crying”– The moment that reshaped Max Verstappen as a race driver

Tanish Chachra
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"Max was crying"– The moment that reshaped Max Verstappen as a race driver

Max Verstappen is the first Dutch F1 world champion after defeating veteran Lewis Hamilton in 2021, but the success came at a great cost.

Max Verstappen when joined Formula 1, everyone realized that he was meant for great success. The question was never will he conquer? But when will he mark his glorious era.

In 2021, after a few years, since his debut in F1, Verstappen has managed to be the world champion at the mere age of 24. But that success has hardly come easy to him.

In his documentary set to be released by Ziggo Sport, Verstappen talks about his childhood. It encompasses his father and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen giving a tough time to him after junior Verstappen makes a reckless mistake during a karting competition.

This includes Jos leaving Max at a gas station alone, as the former F1 champion was furious with his son’s justifications. Though, Jos later came back to get his son from there.

The treatment by his father, in his own words, changed the world for the 2021 F1 world champion. From that onwards, Max changed himself as a driver and became the monster of the driver he’s today.

Watch the video

Also read: Honda reveals its best moments with McLaren and Red Bull as it takes a sabbatical from Formula 1

Unstoppable Max Verstappen after that

The incident deeply touched Max, so much that he openly says he wanted to pin his father on the ground after that. However, he was too young to do it.

Though he vented his anger on racing, and the following year almost won everything. Moreover, Max feels glad that he faced such heat from his father at that tender age.

It can be argued that the harsh treatment was an excellent motivator for Max. However, the Dutch race driver always had the talent to counter that treatment, so in general, maybe, the episode might not be considered acceptable.

Also read: Helmut Marko reveals how Max Verstappen was poached from under the nose of Mercedes

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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