Driving pedigree isn’t the only common thing in the Verstappen family, as Max’s father Jos once again made the headlines for his lack of ethical behaviour after Sergio Perez’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix triumph on Sunday.
Max had his work cut out from the beginning, starting the race P15 after a driveshaft failure during the qualifying session.
However, the Dutchman was able to show his skill and with the help of the fastest car on the grid, eventually driving past the traffic ahead of him to claim a spot behind Perez.
While this would usually be reason to celebrate for Red Bull, given a 1-2 finish in the Grand Prix, Jos blatantly said that his son was “not here to be second“.
Max himself was guilty of not allowing Perez a way through despite team instructions last year. The race was of little significance to Max, who had already secured his second-successive world championship.
However, it was pivotal for Perez, who was chasing Charles Leclerc in the battle for second spot.
It led to a bitter aftermath and many strong words were exchanged by both Max and Checo, who took the route of the “blame game”.
Now, Max’s father Jos was caught by cameras passing a disgruntled look despite everyone in the Red Bull paddock celebrating the Mexican driver’s first GP win of the season.
This reaction polarised fans, with one Twitter user claiming that Jos had shown “despicable behaviour”.
For many others, though, this was exactly what they expected from Jos. “Like father, like son,” said another user.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that Antonio Perez Garibay takes a leading role in celebrating Verstappen’s success whenever the opportunity has arisen in the past.
While there may be some animosity between Max and Checo, it was still strange to see Jos Verstappen show a poker face despite his son’s phenomenal race starting from P15.
Max spoke about the race after securing a podium finish.
“It’s not only about the pace of the car, we need to make sure we are reliable without any issues,” Max said.
“My first weekend was not very clean because of just the big balance shift from testing to the race weekend, some other things which were going on in the background.
“Now again, after three positive practice sessions, I have an issue in qualifying. Of course, I recovered the second, which is good. In general the whole feeling in the team, everyone is happy. But personally, I’m not happy because I’m not here to be second.”