Max Verstappen once unraveled the purpose of his life, and surprisingly, it wasn’t to be a Formula 1 driver. The man who’s now a generational talent in F1 never targeted the sport as his purpose in life initially, which is nothing but very baffling.
Speaking about it in Max Verstappen & Exact. Inside the Workshop Episode 1 back in 2017, Verstappen revealed, “When I was about eight or nine, naturally it starts with dreaming, and then you want a purpose in life.”
Following this, the now 25-year-old shared about his life goal. He said, “For me, it was to be a race driver, not specifically Formula 1. But I definitely wanted to do something in racing.”
Coming from a racing background family where his father Jos Verstappen was a renowned former F1 driver and his mother Sophie Kumpen an extremely talented karting driver, it wasn’t unexpected for Max Verstappen to start off with a career in racing.
Max Verstappen confessed why his target wasn’t to be in F1
While explaining his life goal, the Dutchman also revealed why he was reluctant to take a direct shot at F1. When asked about the possible reason for his choice, and particularly leaving F1 out, he indeed had a logical answer.
He said, “We’ll, you never know. There are only 20, 22 people that get a chance to do that. So you need luck too.” The defending champion also added, “And at that time it seemed so far away, so you don’t really consider it.”
A 15-year old Max Verstappen becomes the 2013 karting !
In the weeks building up to the 2023 season we’ll walk through ’ to glory! ️ pic.twitter.com/4MOm5IBKzx
— Max Verstappen (@VerstappenCOM) December 30, 2022
Admittedly, making it into F1 is regarded as extremely tough, as the teams only take the best pilots available. Furthermore, to make it into the top teams, one not only needs to have extraordinary skills but also luck and monetary support.
Verstappen’s Rise in Formula 1
Max Verstappen was always considered a rising talent in the 2010s. Someone who had excellent track records in karting and then in Formula 3, there was hardly any doubt about his caliber and the success he was going to get in the pinnacle form of motorsport.
The beginning of his F1 journey began in 2015 with Toro Rosso. It was the time when he began his full-time preparation to start his season with Red Bull’s sister team, and he was just 17 years and three days old.
This made him the youngest-ever F1 driver to be involved in the sport. Following a good show in Toro Rosso, the Red Bull higher-ups played a gamble with him and swapped him with Daniil Kvyat on the main team in mid-2016.
Following the swap, Verstappen picked up his first win in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which was in fact his debut race. From here on, there was no stopping the Dutch driver who is now a two-time world champion and is on his way to claim his third.
