“Overtaking was an important subject for me”– Jos Verstappen prohibited Max Verstappen to make easy overtakes during his karting days.
As a former F1 driver, Jos Verstappen was a mentor to his son Max Verstappen during his budding year in karting. Seeing the Red Bull’s ace talent and skills, it is evident that Verstappen Snr. did massive hard work on him.
He now reveals that he disallowed his son not to make easy overtakes, like on the straights, and mentioned a few zones where he could overtake, which has undoubtedly helped the Dutchman.
“While karting, I tried to teach Max as much as possible,” Jos Verstappen told Speedweek. “There are so many aspects you have to take into account.
“Overtaking was an essential subject for me because, in my opinion, you can also overtake in the wrong way. If Max lost time during an overtake, I tried to explain how he could do it better.”
“I even went so far as to forbid him from overtaking on the straights in places where it seemed too easy. I told him, ‘You can only overtake here, here and there. Otherwise, don’t do it’.”
“It’s one of the reasons I feel that Max can overtake anywhere in F1. Overtaking is not a coincidence. A driver has to keep an eye on his competitor, assess his weaknesses and get to know them. Max has developed this for years in karting.”
Closest to his first championship
While Verstappen was always deemed a prodigy, it took him a bit of time to contest for the championship, considering Red Bull promised him to make the youngest world champion in history.
Nevertheless, Verstappen is closest to win the championship ever in his career and currently stands two points behind Lewis Hamilton with seven races to go; the Briton is due to take a grid penalty in this while.
