Jos Verstappen revealed that he was annoyed with Belgian media for not calling his son Max Verstappen Dutch.
Verstappen raced under the Dutch flag, the same nationality as his father. However, he was actually born in Hasselt, Belgium. His mother is also from the same country.
With him winning the world championship in 2021, he has been getting a lot of mainstream attention. This includes the news media from Belgium, who hail him as one of their own. Unfortunately, this didn’t sit too well with Super Max’s father.
Jos revealed that he was annoyed with Belgian media for not calling Verstappen Dutch, and defended his son’s lineage and background.
“Everyone wants a piece of Max at the moment,” he told De Telegraaf, as quoted by Planet F1.
“On the one hand, that’s a nice compliment for him. He’s doing incredibly well. In the car, but also outside. He comes across well, has a fresh head and remains himself. So I understand that a lot of people are proud. Of course I am. But at some points I do have trouble with it.”
Orange King
“For example, in the eyes of some Belgian media, Max is suddenly a Belgian. I think that’s a bit weak,” the former racing driver continued.
“We have been racing for years, but until a few months ago there was little or no writing about him in Belgium and now they suddenly claim that he is theirs. I absolutely don’t see it that way myself.
“The situation is that Max has both nationalities, because me and Sophie were married at the time he was born. But since he races under a Dutch license, he is slightly more Dutch than Belgian. That’s how he feels it himself.
“If the Netherlands has to play against Belgium, he is for the Orange. And if he is eighteen and has to choose, it will be for the Dutch nationality,” he concluded.