Max Verstappen has never been a fan of stats and records but after winning his fourth consecutive championship, has his mindset changed? In a recent interview, the Dutch driver revealed how his laid-back approach to racing initially irked his father, Jos Verstappen, who wanted him to try to achieve the “ultimate goal” of winning eight championships.
“The ultimate goal: Can you win eight titles? I always had this thing that I said, ‘Yeah we’ll see, whatever’. And my dad couldn’t? He’s like, ‘What do you mean we’ll see, whatever?’ That’s not an approach”, Max said in an interview after winning his fourth consecutive championship in Las Vegas.
However, after watching the effort his son has put into winning all of the championships that he has, Max revealed that his father has accepted his approach towards racing. Now, the former Benetton driver seems more relaxed and content with where his son has reached today.
However, does this mean that Jos would accept Max not pushing hard to achieve as much as he can for the time he decides to continue racing? Absolutely not.
“The worrying thing for the grid is that… Max is improving every year”
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase joins the #F1Nation podcast, brought to you by @TMobile – click to listen now! #F1
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25, 2024
The only thing that Jos may accept is his son’s decision of how long he wants to continue racing. Max has repeatedly stated that he has no interest in racing in his 40s and may even decide to hang up his boots after his current contract ends with Red Bull at the end of the 2028 season.
Verstappen may be the only driver who can win eight titles
Although Lewis Hamilton has already won a record-equalling seven championships and is still racing, he may not be the favorite to win a record eighth title because of how his form has witnessed a dip in the recent few seasons. Meanwhile, the one man who always seems in form is none other than Verstappen.
Although the 27-year-old has not managed to match his record-breaking run of last year when he registered 19 wins, he has yet been mightily impressive this season. Despite driving a subpar RB20, the Dutchman has won eight races this year and has sealed the championship with two races to spare.
So, if any driver can think about wanting to achieve the “ultimate goal” of eight titles, it is undoubtedly Verstappen. The question is more to do with if he wants to rather than if he will.
While winning eight championships will definitely be incredibly difficult even for him as a lot of things need to go his way, he certainly has the potential to achieve it, provided he has the desire to race for longer than what he has planned at the moment.
