Max Verstappen’s childhood is known to have been a challenging one, due to how hard his father – ex-F1 driver Jos Verstappen – was on him.
Several stories from the reigning World Champion’s past have been discovered over the years, most notably how he was left at a petrol station by his father who was angry.
This story from Verstappen’s childhood is well-known; however, a new story has since been shared by the Dutchman’s fans on social media.
The new story of Verstappen’s childhood was supposedly included in the Red Bull driver’s biography ‘Unstoppable’, written by Mark Hughes.
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Verstappen’s father apparently made the two-time World Champion walk from a karting track to their hotel, a distance of several miles.
In this incident, the championship leader reportedly had his driving suit and helmet, which he wore for the journey.
He used some initiative and managed to hitchhike to the hotel, to which his father drove him back to where he dropped him off and made him walk to the accommodation all over again.
Verstappen hasn’t hidden how challenging his childhood was and how hard his father was on him, something which hasn’t stopped the duo from being close.
Jos has attended the vast majority of his son’s races since he was promoted to Toro Rosso in 2015, something which feels like an eternity ago.
A lot of his success has come from lessons learnt as a child, with some of Jos’ harsh teaching skills having proven to be effective.
Verstappen will need to use everything that he’s learnt on Sunday at the Singapore Grand Prix, where he’ll start from 11th.
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The Red Bull driver endured a disastrous qualifying session and was eliminated in Q2 for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was one of the opening rounds of the 2023 season.
He’s struggled for outright pace throughout the weekend and has been unhappy with the car’s balance, as has Sergio Perez who qualified 13th.
Verstappen will need a miracle to extend his winning streak to 11 races, something which looks almost impossible at the Marina Bay Circuit.