There is no great liturgy behind the showcase in which Max Verstappen (25 years old) exhibits himself as Formula 1 champion for the second time. A guy predestined to compete and win in motorsports, from a family raised between valves and gasoline, with a girlfriend and future wife coming from a motor saga (Piquet) and the result of various intersections of interests: the excessive ambition of the Dutch driver and a borderline culture with military education. Verstappen is the champion raised between the demands of his ex-F1 driver’s father and the Marine school that Red Bull founded in Austria. To reach his second world wound, the Dutchman lived in the uncertainty of the confusion of the Japanese Grand Prix. “But am I a champion or not?” He asked his teammate Checo Pérez, who did not know the answer either, in the prelude to the podium. The usual complexity of understanding itself in Formula 1 was reflected in the outcome in Suzuka: for having finished the race and for the five-second penalty on Charles Leclerc (he skipped a chicane) that moved him to third place (15 points instead of 18), Verstappen was crowned champion. Of course, without returning to the ring to the circuit or spontaneity in the celebration or the usual howls through the radio. Until then, the chaos of a race in the middle of the deluge transported him. Wherever Verstappen goes, his father goes. Jos Verstappen, a former Formula 1 driver at the turn of the century who shared a team with Pedro de la Rosa at Arrows and did not become indisputable in this sport: 107 races between 1994 and 2003, two podiums and 17 points. A good driver with no star pedigree. In Formula 1, the father figure has something of a folkloric mother, they are parents who intensely lived their love of cars and passed it on to their children. Alonso’s father was an employee of an explosives factory whose devotion to all kinds of cars led him to build a handmade kart in the colors of McLaren-Honda, that of Senna and Prost, for his eldest daughter, Lorena. She is she rejected it and the gift fell into the hands of Alonso. That’s where he started his story. Hamilton’s father was an emigrant to England from a Caribbean island, Grenada, who moonlighted in everything that came to him and combined it with his job on the London Underground. Overtime to raise the car career of the now famous and billionaire son of his. Related News standard No Formula 1 Verstappen, two-time champion between confusion and a race of fear and risk in Japan José Carlos Carabias standard Yes Formula 1 Alonso’s plan falls apart: trouble and withdrawal in Alpine José Carlos Carabias Carlos Sainz’s father was so famous or more than him, world rally champion. The head of the family of Lance Stroll, Alonso’s future boss at Aston Martin, is a textile industry magnate (Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Pierre Cardin) who always had a devotion to motor racing. Forbes billionaire, he bought a Formula 1 team (Force India) for his son to race. Vettel’s father had carpentry as a trade in the town of Heppenheim. And, as a stalwart of motorsports, he bought the missing parts from his son on eBay to build a kart in which he could compete in the lower categories. Parents of F1 Verstappen is the product of his father’s martial discipline and family tradition. His mother, Sophie Kumpen, was also a karting driver and activist in European competitions. And his uncle, Anthony Kumpen, was a champion in the Nascar Whelen Euro Series. Breed comes to the greyhound. Jos Verstappen decided to make his son the world champion that he could not be. Both jumped into the van during the offspring’s school days to cover more than 100,000 kilometers a year touring the continental geography in search of kart races. They forged a strong union on the roads of Europe. Little Max always watched and obeyed his parent. Almost academically lazy, Papa Jos gave priority to his son’s car career over studies. Jos Verstappen’s methods permeated Max’s personality, today hard as flint and always determined to achieve his goals. Papa forced him to drive without gloves, freezing cold, to resist the pain. He forbade him to overtake in the simple curves of the circuits so that he could discover other ways to overtake the rival. The tantrums of the head of the family, those screams or the blows on little Max’s helmet when he made mistakes are famous. One of Verstappen’s big mistakes, in the 2012 karting world championship when he collided with a rival, caused him to travel more than 1,000 kilometers back home without his father speaking to him, he was so angry. And legend has it that, arriving at his home, the father expelled his son from the van and left him at a gas station, so that he could learn from his mistakes. Between that military training and the Fuschel pilot school, near the place where the ideologue of Red Bull (Helmut Marko) was born in Austria, Verstappen has acquired the ambitious and granite mentality. The marine school, which Vettel, Alguersuari, Buemi, Sainz and Ricciardo have also passed through, concentrates his methods on providing its athletes with a high level of resistance to stress. It combines the psychological aspect with the technical and cardiovascular and muscular care, as well as a specific diet. No driver’s license The rest is the story of growth at the speed of light. Verstappen joined Formula 1 at Toro Rosso at the age of 17, without a driving license, he coincided with Carlos Sainz in the early years that were not comfortable for the Spaniard, a difficult relationship. And he won the first race he drove a Red Bull in Barcelona at the age of 18 (2016). The hybrid era in which Mercedes and Hamilton have ruled with an iron fist was a waiting time for Max and Jos Verstappen. Nothing to do with that intractable racing car. Until last year, when the Red Bull and Honda engine partnership matched the fair. Verstappen won the title on the last lap of that unforgettable race in Abu Dhabi. In 2022, with the change in regulations that sought to reduce the distances between cars and drivers, the Dutchman has been strolling since the summer and conquers the title with four races to go.
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