Red Bulletin UK-04

The Red Bulletin 4 July, 2021 redbulletin.com/f1special F1 Red Bull Ring Team Talk 09
THE
INNER
CIRCLE
Incredible natural speed and sublime race
craft have taken MAX VERSTAPPEN to the
top in Formula 1, but to become a genuine
title contender requires a whole lot more –
from family to fitness and from engineering
smarts to the wisdom of trusted advisors,
meet Max’s support crew…
Words JUSTIN HYNES
GETTY IMAGES DALE EDWIN MURRAY
Father:
JOS VERSTAPPEN
From the moment Jos Verstappen put
his son Max Emilian on a quad bike at
the age of two-and-half and behind the
wheel of a go-kart at the age of four
the former F1 driver has been both
tutor and mentor. “I remember after
a few laps he went around the entire
track flat out. I immediately went and
bought a bigger kart,” he told Max’s
website last year.
From covering hundreds of thousands
of kilometres in a van across a decade
of European karting to jumping
to the FIA Formula 3 European
Championship at the age of 16, to
becoming F1’s youngest starter at 17
and youngest winner at age 18, Jos has
been there every step of the way.
As Max has matured, Jos has been
less front and centre but the Red Bull
driver still seeks his dad’s advice.
“We still talk about everything in
terms of what I am doing throughout
the weekend set-up wise and stuff,”
says Max. “But I know more and more
myself, so our relationship is pretty
relaxed now. We still discuss a lot and
I really enjoy it. It’s great to have your
dad around, especially when he did it
himself and understands racing.”