Max Verstappen’s father remembers some tough love he shared with his son after the latter wanted to go home instead of practising laps.
Max Verstappen was born to Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen. Both of his parents were racers during their younger days and have influenced him to pursue a career in Motorsports.
Jos was a former F1 driver and a 24-hours Le Mans winner. He spent quite a bit of time with young Max during his karting days and acted as his manager later.
Jos used to accompany his son to Karting events. He used to help MAx improve his driving and used to scrutinise his every move in their practice sessions.
Jos was known for a very critical form of parenting. In previous interviews, Max had even stated how his father had never believed in his ambitions to be an F1 driver. Let alone an F1 World Champion which he achieved in 2021.
However, Jos was aware of Max’s capabilities and used to push him to the limits. Jos justified his harsh treatment by saying, “We did everything ourselves, while we had to compete against factory teams. But we didn’t want to depend on others.”
Jos used to take a young Max to races when he used to race in F1. And post his racing stint, he would attend all of Max’s races and be his biggest supporter.
Also Read: Jos Verstappen justifies his harsh treatment with Max Verstappen
When Max Verstappen ‘froze’ while karting
Max Verstappen had an F1 experienced driver at home in his father Jos. And Jos knew in order to race in F1, he had to excel in the karting scene.
Max thus started Karting while he was 5. And Jos used to share some tough love. One of which he narrated in an interview with David Coulthard.
Jos says, “I remember he was probably 8 or 9. And after Wednesdays after school, we used to go to the Go-kart track.”
He continued, “In the wintertime, it was freezing. So I let the van run so that he could warm up. And then I said we did ten laps. And then he said ‘Oh it’s so cold.'”
Jos would let him take a break, “So I let him warm up. And then 3 minutes later he is nowhere. He was still complaining about the cold and I was like ‘I don’t care.'”
Senior Verstappen would make Max work non-stop. He said, “He couldn’t move his fingers. And I didn’t care because I wanted to test things because I was building engines and chassis. And I wanted a result because I wanted to move forward.”
Also Read: Jos Verstappen admits he gets frustrated when 31 GP winner Max Verstappen outperforms him
