Sophie Kumpen Leaves Max Verstappen’s Third Title in God’s Hands as Once Mocked Superstition Rekindles Ahead of 2023 Season

Max Verstappen has spent the majority of his childhood with his father, who helped him become the legendary F1 driver he is today. However, the two-time world champion’s mother, Sophie Kumpen, too, played a crucial role because she herself was a prominent name in the racing circuit.

In a previous interview, Kumpen spoke about how she prays for Verstappen before the start of every season and also before every race. She goes to a nearby church in her hometown, where she lights a candle and then prays for the Dutchman to do well in the upcoming races.

Earlier this week, Kumpen posted a story on her Instagram account where she recorded herself going to this church and choosing a candle that she was going to burn for him. She has decided to leave the chances of Verstappen’s third consecutive world championship to God, but if he continues his great form and Red Bull has a winning car, he is going to be pretty much unstoppable anyway.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton Backtracks From His Previous Claim That Formula 1 Can Have Positive Impact on Repressive Regimes By Having Races

Max Verstappen and Red Bull looked strongest in pre-season testing

The 2023 F1 season starts this Friday, and if performances at last week’s official pre-season testing are taken into account, Red Bull is the favorite for the opening race. While they didn’t top every single session on all three days, their car looked the most balanced, overall.

Verstappen and Perez put in a lot of laps around the Bahrain International Circuit with consistently fast pace, which is a good sign for their powertrains and durability departments. Red Bull, however, will keep their fingers crossed as they look to avoid a repeat of the 2022 Bahrain GP.

Also read: Fernando Alonso Refutes Ted Kravitz’s ‘Instant Success to Aston Martin’ Comment for Bahrain Grand Prix

What happened to Red Bull in Bahrain last year?

At the 2022 pre-season test, Red Bull was not the clear favorite as Ferrari was right on their toes for the most part. In the opening race in Bahrain, Verstappen went neck on neck with Charles Leclerc and the two of them treated fans to some fantastic racing action.

Towards the end, however, catastrophe struck for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. Firstly, Verstappen had to retire from the race due to engine failure and just a few laps later, it was Sergio Perez who had to pull up.

This gave Ferrari and Leclerc their first win since 2019, and Carlos Sainz followed it up with a second placed finish. These reliability woes did not affect the Austrian team for much longer, but it was a nervy start for them nevertheless. Red Bull and Verstappen will definitely want to avoid a repeat of last year this time about in Sakhir.