Following several accusations of having abused son Max Verstappen, ex-Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen has responded by saying that he “never abused” the double World Champion and was simply “hard” on the 25-year-old.
Jos is certainly a character who is watched very closely by the media, mainly due to the fact that his son is currently the best driver on the grid.
Max has been sensational since 2021, with the Red Bull driver having shown consistent improvement every season.
Winning is the only thing which appears to satisfy the reigning World Champion, who openly admitted after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that he wasn’t happy to have finished second, rather than first.
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Verstappen has started the 2023 F1 season with two wins and a second-place finish, with him currently leading team-mate Sergio Perez in the Drivers’ Championship by 15 points.
He knows exactly what he wants and is often angry when things don’t go his way, as seen in Saudi Arabia.
Some have linked his aggressiveness, though, to abuse, something that has been rejected by Jos.
Jos has openly admitted that he was tough on his son during his childhood, but due to knowing “what it takes” to not only reach F1 but to be a relentless winner.
“There are people who say I’m a bad father because I abused my child, I never abused him!” Jos said.
“I raised him, I was hard on him. That was my plan, many people cannot imagine what it takes to reach the absolute top level of a sport.”
The Red Bull star has certainly achieved that, with his win at last Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix having been the 37th of his career at the pinnacle of motorsport.
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As a result of winning for the first time at the Albert Park Circuit, Verstappen is now just one win behind retired four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull tally.
Vettel claimed 38 wins whilst driving for Red Bull from 2009-2014, with the German still currently being the Austrians most decorated driver.
Whilst Verstappen still has some way to go to match Vettel’s four titles for Red Bull, the Dutchman could eclipse his number of wins for Red Bull at the Miami Grand Prix.