Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen were married to each other from 1996 to 2008 but endured a torrid time together. Their marriage was never happy, and the only reason they stayed together for so long was for the sake of their children.
Verstappen and Kumpen were both extremely passionate about motorsports, and their early years together were fueled mainly by this shared love. However, after Verstappen retired from F1 at the end of the 2003 season, their relationship went downhill. Max Verstappen was just four years old at the time, two older than his sister Victoria.
Soon, Verstappen and Kumpen realized that they had nothing in common other than their love for racing. This led to several problems, as their passion for the sport also meant they had huge egos, and clashed very often. As reported by Business F1, their troubled relationship made Verstappen engage in multiple affairs which he tried to hide from his wife.
Jos Verstappen and his affairs that ruined his marriage
Verstappen reportedly was a part of so many affairs that it became almost impossible to hide them from Kumpen. However, in public, she insisted that nothing was wrong between them and they were happy together, thus showing her husband loyalty.
Behind the scenes, however, things started getting even more difficult and Verstappen Sr. eventually got caught cheating firsthand. This broke the trust between them completely, and their marriage was never the same again.
Despite this, Kumpen wanted to give their relationship a chance, for the sake of her children. But the only way their marriage was going to work was with Verstappen being completely faithful. This, however, proved to be difficult, and even with marriage counselling, things kept going downhill.
Verstappen and Kumpen’s approach to life became difficult
Even though their marriage was a failure, they forced to hold it together until 2008 only because of their children. However, their approach towards things became very difficult over the years. Verstappen wanted to continue with the lifestyle he had when he was a racing driver.
On the other hand, he expected Kumpen to stay behind at home, and raise their children. This difference in opinion led to the two spending a lot of time away from each other before their divorce. Max Verstappen, who was on his way to becoming a future star in F1, found himself spending a lot more time with his father, who helped him pave his way to the pinnacle of motorsports.
Today, Jos Verstappen’s son is 25 years old, a two-time world champion and a legend of Formula 1 already.
