Jos Verstappen has firmly denied that he was too harsh on his son, Max Verstappen, during his early racing career.
The former Formula 1 driver is known for having pushed his son very hard during his karting career to get him into a position to reach the pinnacle of the sport. He did go on to make it there and he is now a two-time, reigning world champion.
But Verstappen senior is adamant that he did not go beyond the line when trying to build his son into a strong driver and person as it was always part of his plan.
“There are people who say that I am a bad father because I abused my son, I never abused him,” Verstappen said in the Viaplay documentary ‘Verstappen: Anatomy of a champion’.
“I raised him, I was hard on him. That was my plan. Many people can’t imagine what it takes to reach the absolute highest level of a sport.”
Required
It’s easy for someone on the outside to come to a snap judgement on the situation as Jos is often seen venting his frustration when things don’t go his son’s way on track.
He is always in the Red Bull garage and he makes no secret of who he wants to win in the team and perhaps that is why Max has gone on to be so successful.
Had his father not pushed him as far as he did, he may have not given as much effort to reach F1 and he could have been another Red Bull junior lost in the feeder series rather than the best driver in the world.
Verstappen has already won twice in 2023 at Bahrain and Australia while he recovered to second from 15th on the grid in Saudi Arabia.
