Max Verstappen has previously spoken about how tough his father was with him when he was young, but a new story has popped up revealing the troubling childhood the reigning world champion went through.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s childhood is known to have been difficult due to how strict his father, former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, was with him.
Over the years, a number of stories regarding the past of the current World Champion have come to light, most notably how his angry father abandoned him at a gas station.
Verstappen’s fans have since posted an entirely new story on social media in place of the famous narrative from his youth.
According to reports, Mark Hughes’ biography of the Red Bull driver, “Unstoppable,” reportedly featured the new account of Verstappen’s upbringing.
Verstappen’s father allegedly had the two-time World Champion walk several kilometres from a karting circuit to their hotel.
According to the story, the championship leader was wearing his driving suit and helmet during this particular incident.
The Red Bull star took some initiative and was able to hitchhike to the hotel, and consequently his father took him back to the location where he had been dropped off and forced him to walk to the destination once more.
Verstappen hasn’t been secretive about how difficult his upbringing was or how harsh his father was on him, but that hasn’t stopped the two of them from being close.
Jos has been present for the vast majority of his son’s races since his son was promoted to Toro Rosso in 2015, which seems like an age ago. Many of the things he learnt as a child and some of Jos’ tough teaching methods have contributed to his success in Formula 1.
For the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, one of the season’s opening rounds in 2023, the Red Bull driver endured a dismal qualifying performance and was eliminated in Q2 at the Singapore Grand Prix and eventually started the race from 11th.
Similar to Sergio Perez, who qualified 13th, he battled to maintain an overall pace throughout the weekend and expressed dissatisfaction with the balance of the car.
Verstappen eventually finished Sunday’s race in fifth place as his teammate finished eighth.
