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Max Verstappen will forever be grateful to his dad Jos for supplying the inspiration and good genes that have elevated him to F1 superstar.
A veteran of 107 Grands Prix, Jos Verstappen ended his F1 career as a journeyman but spared no effort to teach his son everything he knew about the sport.
As the Red Bull Racing driver's strongest supporter, Jos follows his son's every move from the start to the end of a Grand Prix weekend, and still offers his advice along the way.
"I wouldn’t say we’ve grown apart now that I’m in F1," says Max.
"Of course, I must do more my own thing. People expect me to be my own man, instead of my dad doing things for me. But I think it’s important to have people like him to advise me and for them to have my back."
Max and Jos have enjoyed a strong relationship since the former's formative years in motorsport.
"Of course we had different opinions, but ultimately he was right, nine out of ten times. So, I trust his opinion.
"We both have strong egos, but that is in our blood and has gotten us this far and into F1. If we didn’t have that drive, we’d still be in go-karts."
While he values his father's input, there are times when the younger Verstappen believes he knows best.
"I trust him but that doesn’t mean I don’t make my own choices. A good example is Malaysia last year.
"We had some new parts on the car. They didn’t really work for Daniel, but I was convinced they would be beneficial, despite set-up difficulties. I decided to keep using them.
"During the practice sessions, we just couldn’t make it work but I was adamant we should use them in qualifying. Dad came up to me and told me he I shouldn’t use the new parts. I stuck to my guns.
"In the end, we managed to make them work and I qualified in third, a really good result for the car at the time.
Afterwards I walked up to dad and said ‘told you so’. Of course he laughed, he was happy with the choice!"
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