“That was my plan…" - Max Verstappen’s father denies ‘abusing’ son during childhood

Jos Verstappen has denied 'abusing' his son, Max Verstappen, during his childhood, contrary to what many publications have reported.

An exclusive documentary on the double world champion is set to be released. According to a Swedish publication, Expressen, a part of the series reveals how Max Verstappen's father 'abused' him during his childhood while he was on the way to becoming a motorsport driver.

However, Max's father has denied such allegations. According to him, he did not 'abuse' his son, but was rather hard on him. He feels that the success the Dutchman is having currently wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for his ways of treating him. He referred to his harsh treatment as 'his plan.'

"There are people who say I’m a bad father because I abused my child. I never abused him! 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."

Jos Verstappen is a former Formula 1 driver too. Although he could not gain much success himself, he has made sure that his son pushes to the absolute limit of the car to lead races and ultimately win. His experience in Formula 1 during the earlier era is a major factor in Max Verstappen's racing development.

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Franz Tost believes Max Verstappen has 'everything a champion needs'

Max Verstappen

Franz Tost is the team principal of AlphaTauri, Red Bull's sister team. He mentioned the early training that Max Verstappen was put through during his earlier years.

In his words, Versatppen's parents put him in karts at an early age and his father played a crucial role in preparing him for the challenges in motorsport. This helped him earn a lot of experience from a young age.

"That started with his parents, who both raced and put Max into karts at an early age. His father Jos prepared every detail for Max, but Max then had to implement it. He has everything a champion needs now."

Max Verstappen has been crowned the world champion for two consecutive seasons now. Even going into the 2023 season, he looks absolutely dominant. He managed to win two out of the three races that have taken place until now and has a comfortable lead in the driver standings.

As much as Verstappen worked for where he is today in Formula 1, his father played a massive role in bringing him up there. He supported him ever since his karting days all the way till here, and as he agreed to be 'hard' on his son, it has, according to him, only helped in his racing career.