Canadian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen gifts father another win

Montreal, June 19

When he won the pole in the pouring rain, Max Verstappen was quick to explain that it had been his father who would stand on the wet track during his early days of karting and point him to the correct driving lines.

So when Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix on Father’s Day a 41st victory that tied the Dutchman for fifth on the all-time Formula One wins list with the late Ayrton Senna and gave Red Bull its 100th win as an organisation he was quick to salute the man who had moulded him into the two-time reigning world champion. The 25-year-old reminisced of the days he and Jos Verstappen travelled by van throughout Europe to his karting races, the father hoping to raise a winner. Jos Verstappen made 107 F1 starts and was once a teammate of Michael Schumacher.

“Without him I would not sit here today,” Verstappen said of his father. “He has taught me and prepared me for so much, from a very young age.” AP