Jos Verstappen reveals the moment he was most proud of Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen’s father Jos felt proudest when watching his son during qualifying sessions, especially in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. A former F1 driver himself, the 49-year-old said his son has a "special feeling" inside the car during the dying moments of qualifying.

Speaking to David Coulthard during an interview after the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Jos Verstappen said:

“It's hard to name only one thing because so many things happen during the season. But for me, it's when I see his quali laps in Q3, when he’s driving his car on the limit, like he did in Jeddah. That was an unbelievable lap. But seeing that here also in Abu Dhabi, [his] qualifying lap was unreal, and he has such a special feeling in the car. It is incredible.”

Max Verstappen had a quick lap going around the Jeddah circuit when a change in tailwind direction at the final corner made him lock up the brakes, run wide and clip the barriers. Had the Dutchman finished the lap without incident, he was expected to be 0.05 seconds quicker than his rival Lewis Hamilton, who ended up taking pole position.

However, in Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen’s mighty first attempt in Q3 itself was ninth tenths of a second quicker than Hamilton’s preliminary attempt, and enough to grab provisional pole. Although the Briton tried to improve during the dying moments of the session, he couldn’t get closer than four tenths of a second of the Dutchman’s lap time.

---

Max Verstappen led double the number of laps as Lewis Hamilton in 2021

During the 2021 F1 season, Max Verstappen led 652 laps, more than double that of his title rival Lewis Hamilton. The Briton led only 297 laps, 355 fewer than the Dutchman.

Hamilton and nine other race leaders led a combined 348 laps in 2021, which is still 305 laps fewer than Verstappen. However, in the title finale in Abu Dhabi, the only lap led by the Dutchman was the last one, which sealed the 2021 F1 World Drivers' Championship in his favor.