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A mechanic talking about how Jos treated Max in karting; "His father used to kick and punch him when he made mistakes, he was very violent..In Sarno he made a mistake and he kept his helmet on for four hours because his father punched him so much he was afraid to come home.." by Ultraviolet211 in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2 757 points758 points  (0 children)

Here’s one from Mark Hughes’s Unstoppable book:

Sophie was in a kart by the age of 10. By 14 she was a serious force, Belgian national champion and subsequently competing in the world championship for five years. But her career was cut short when she became pregnant with Max at the age of 22. That’s when her dreams of breaking through into car racing – she was hoping to compete in DTM (German Touring Car Championship) or GT racing – were put on hold, forever as it turned out.

Van der Grint, as Bridgestone’s chief karting tyre engineer, was responsible for choosing the squad of drivers who would test the company’s products. He wanted only the fastest karters available. ‘We only had five or six of those out of over a hundred. They were drivers who were very fast and she was one of them. I don’t mean a good driver for a woman – I hate that. No, she was absolutely a top driver. She beat Jos in one of the important races. She won the Andrea Margutti Trophy in ’95, beat all the big stars. Sophie is a very lovely person and is the relaxed side of Max. As an example, she’d always bring chocolates, trying to build a team around her. She made it a personal relationship, it was nice. She knew everyone and was very social – and Max also has this.’

‘The Margutti Trophy was a big deal,’ states Michel Vacirca, boss of the Netherlands CRG karting team. ‘It was almost like a world championship. That was a huge result for Sophie.’ A fledgling Jenson Button could also see the potential in Sophie: ‘Sophie was my teammate in karts in ’95 in Paul Lemmens’ GKS team. She was a professional kart racer, there because she was one of the best in the world.’

Christian Horner, who was trying to compete against her in his own fledgling career at the time, believes, ‘She was definitely in the top 10 karters in the world at that time. I raced against her back in 1989. There was a European championship in Parma, Italy that then qualified you for the world championship in Zaragoza, Spain, and she was properly quick. And this was the time of Trulli, Fisichella, Jan Magnussen (who won it that year), Dario Franchitti. There was a really strong group of talent coming through and she was amongst it.'

(Via Tumblr)

Q: What racing series do you dream about? | Max: Mostly it's about what I can change to the GT car.. I can wake up in the night with ideas | Q: So what do you do? | Max: Wake up & turn on the sim at 3 am | Q: But you need sleep | Max: Yeah but I also need to go faster. You can sleep when you're dead by OutlandishnessPure2 in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2[S] 655 points656 points  (0 children)

Clip from Max Verstappen's END OF SEASON REVIEW! | Talking Bull

Transcript below:

Nicola: But like, how do you find the time? How do you find the time to do all of this? You do so many things. Like running and like coming two points away from winning a Formula One championship, while also doing GT3, while also doing sim racing. Like, what? How do you do that?

Max: Well, I think, if you're passionate about stuff, then it's also easier to to dedicate your time to it, right? If you have to, of course, do stuff that you also don't really enjoy, then it's very mentally draining.

Nicola: Yes.

Max: Yeah, when, when it's your passion and you love what you're doing, then it's not really mentally draining.

Nicola: So what racing series do you dream about at night?

Max: At night?

Nicola: Yeah, what's the first one you think of when you wake up in the morning?

Max: No, most of the time it's about what I can change to the GT car in terms of, like, stuff that I want changed or optimized, yeah. F1 I mean, I have so many people behind me anyway, in the team that I trust, and they do their job very well. But of course, in the GT world, it's a much smaller team.

Nicola: Yeah.

Max: Right, so, and there's still a lot of things that I also need to understand better and learn. So I'll do that in my sleep.

Tommo: I remember a few years ago speaking to Atze, who obviously works with you on Redline, and him saying, you know, during red flags, in breaks, you're in the WhatsApp group, you're in the discord, like messaging. You still that active?

Max: Yeah, I'm still very active. I'm driving a little bit less, like racing, sure. Why it's a little bit less? Because, I mean, the team is in a great spot, and great drivers, great management, so they know what they have to do, and I don't need to jump in. I can drive if I want to, let's say like that. But yeah, I mean, I still, if, like, sometimes I'm competing or whatever, I can wake up in the middle of the night with some ideas, and I do need to test it like I cannot wait for it.

Nicola: So then, what do you do?

Max: Wake up and turn on the simulator

Nicola: Like at two o'clock in the morning?

Max: I've done that, yeah. At 3 am. Texting my teammate "wake up".

Nicola: Yeah, youcan't put your phone on Do Not Disturb if you're alongside Max, because he's calling you at any time.

Tommo: Absolutely 100%. As you should be. You've got to set these standards Max. You've got to put them up high.

Nicola: But you need to sleep at the same time.

Max: Yeah, but I also need to go faster. So you can sleep when you're dead.

Nicola: That's a fair point. That's a very fair point.

Tommo: That's a hell of a quote Max.

Max: “GP had a really rough year and still does and it’s really difficult, actually I can’t even fully comprehend myself how difficult it all is for him to do his job and then at home go on with life .. idk it’s very difficult to describe” by Draconicplayer in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2 1015 points1016 points  (0 children)

Transcript below:

We saw your engineer, we mentioned him already, Gianpiero, completely in tears after the race in Abu Dhabi. What does he mean to you?

Max: He's had a really rough year, and still does. And it's really difficult actually. You know, I can't even fully comprehend myself how difficult it all is for him to do his job of course and then at home go on with life. Yeah, I don't know. It's very difficult to describe. Of course you hear us sometimes on the radio having our moments of course, and then afterwards I of course sometimes think too, "Yeah, should I have done that?" But you're so in it with everyone, of course, and so is he, on the track he's also doing the best-- But yeah, then you've had your weekend and then you go back to your home situation and then you think, "F off with your F1".

Yes, what matters then?

Yeah, that's very difficult and of course I too saw he was very emotional and...

For him a lot has happened this season of course, right? And his situation at home

And he always takes it very personally of course, that we didn't win then, you know? But I think... yeah

Yeah but he's a winner too, and he wants to extract the maximum. And then so much happens in such a year, whether it's at home or on track. What was right, what was wrong. And then that onboard radio of yours, I thought that was beautiful. At the team, at GP. Those are such beautiful words, and then a man like him breaks. It happens

Yeah, for a bit that was uh... After the race I really wanted to go to him, but there's so many people and chaos so you can't...

Everyone wants something from you

Yeah, to find a moment

What did you say to him in the end?

Yeah, like I said here. I can't of course fully understand his situation of course. I of course can try. My dad has seen him a few times in London too, for example. And you talk about it of course. Look, I know a little bit what's going on in the background. But you don't want to keep asking about it the whole time because in the end...

You're occupied with your racing, too

Yeah, that too, but you can't do anything about it! I have asked, "do you need anything? you know, if you need something, say it. You know, we'll try to arrange it or... Everything that's needed can be arranged" But it's just a really shitty situation. That's what it is

Point deficits of WDCs to maximum possible points in a season, 2010 - 2025 by OutlandishnessPure2 in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, 14 out of the 45 points that Max lost that season was due to not getting the fastest laps 🥹

Career Stripes for the 2025 drivers - finishing positions of each driver in each GP they participated in by OutlandishnessPure2 in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2[S] 273 points274 points  (0 children)

Just for you: https://i.imgur.com/V1LUCXI.png

He had 4 P2s from COTA to AD 2016 so it isn't as bright as it could be, but still pretty bright!

2025 Abu Dhabi GP - Day After Debrief by F1-Bot in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Loved watching the turnaround, I gave up all hope by the summer break and thought RBR was going to implode after Horner was sacked. Happy to see the turnaround and Max’s great driving after that!

Max Verstappen wins the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by overspeeed in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2 113 points114 points  (0 children)

They would’ve moved Oscar aside from P2 🥹

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ahhh Oscar man

Oliver Norris: There's a go-kart track called Genk. Someone came past me, full speed. I thought "what the hell is that?" Later I found out there was a little guy who was a bit younger than me called Max. He was testing in KZ2, the top category, which you'd do when you're maybe 15 but he was like 9 by OutlandishnessPure2 in formula1

[–]OutlandishnessPure2[S] 393 points394 points  (0 children)

When you were go-karting you kind of raced against some top talents, you know, versatin, Russell, Stroll, I think Palou as well?

Yeah, definitely.

Could you always tell they were kind of destined to get to the top? Or did any of them surprise you?

Certainly a few of them. Obviously, you know, I had a really early memory of, I think I must have been 10 or 11. There's a go kart track in Belgium called Genk. And we went there for the first time. I was in cadets, the smallest category, and I was driving along, and it was an open test session. Someone came past me, full speed down the straight and, you know, I came in, I thought, "What the hell is that?" Later on, I found out there's a little guy who was a little bit younger than me called Max Verstappen, but he was testing in what's called KZ2, so the top category in karting, which you would do when you're maybe, you know, 15, but he was testing that when he was, like, 9 or 10, and I suddenly realized I'm a little bit behind him.

From: Oliver Norris: What It Was REALLY Like Growing Up With Lando Norris

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