Much before Max Verstappen stepped into the world of F1, his father, Jos Verstappen, had made quite a name for himself in the sport. Similarly to the 26-year-old, Jos was also extremely aggressive as a driver and highly competitive. So much so that as per a recent report by F1oversteer, a former teammate recalled how Jos once hijacked his car for a practice session after crashing his own car.
Former F1 driver Enrique Bernoldi recently appeared on the Beyond the Grid podcast and described his experiences of being Jos’ teammate back in 2002 when the two of them were driving for Arrows. The Brazilian recalled an incident that happened during the Austrian GP when the 51-year-old Dutchman crashed his car.
As soon as Bernoldi stopped in the pits, the team instructed him to move over and give his car to Verstappen for the rest of the session. He said, “They explained that he was there with the team for many years. He was the number one driver and that’s how it goes“.
After the incident, Bernoldi also admitted that there were tensions between the two of them during their time as teammates. However, he made it clear that no such ill feelings exist today.
Jos Verstappen decided to mentor Max after his own struggles in F1
Enrique Bernoldi revealed that despite Jos Verstappen’s aggressive nature, the Dutchman was slower than him during qualifying. Moreover, Verstappen, who was also teammates with Michael Schumacher in 1994, failed to match the German as well.
Because of his struggles in F1, the 51-year-old gave up his career to focus on his son, Max Verstappen. He mentored his son from a very young age and is well known to be an extremely strict parent.
Sometimes he even allegedly crossed the line of parental abuse. However, the strict parenting seems to have worked wonders for Max, who has already won three world championships at the age of 26.
