Max Verstappen’s Mother Sophie Celebrates Her “Double Winner” Son After Close Lando Norris Imola GP Battle

Just about a week ago, Max Verstappen put a lovely story on Instagram for his mother, Sophie Kumpen, on Mother’s Day, as he recalled when his whole family visited him for the Dutch GP and celebrated the win with the 3X champion. And now, it seems like Verstappen’s mother is returning the favor on social media as she celebrates her son’s double win after the Dutchman’s breathtaking battle with Lando Norris at the Emilia Romagna GP. 

Coming into the Imola GP weekend, there were questions over whether Max Verstappen would have to leave his love out of F1, i.e., Sim Racing for the F1 race. The Virtual 24 Hours of Nurburgring took place at the same time as the Imola GP weekend, as Verstappen’s Sim Racing venture, Team Redline, took part in it. But the dominant Dutchman made it possible as he hopped onto the Sim right after the Imola GP qualifying to help team Redline, who eventually won the event. 

Max Verstappen then took to the track in Imola, as he started from pole and built a comfortable gap of 5–6 seconds. The gap was maintained until the very end of the race, as the hard tires on Red Bull fell off in the last 10 laps, and Lando Norris came ever so close to taking the win, finishing less than a second behind Verstappen. Both drivers gave it everything, but despite nothing being in the Dutchman’s favor, he came out at the top, showing why he is a 3X champion.

And now, his mother, Sophie Kumpen, has taken to Instagram to congratulate her son for the same, as he won two races on the same day. The Virtual 24H Nurburgring with Team Redline and Emilia Romagna GP with Red Bull. Kumpen shared a picture of Verstappen in the Sim Racing Rig and him giving a thumbs up after winning the Imola GP as she celebrated the “Double Winner” on Instagram. The caption to the story was, “So proud of you 💪”.

And Verstappen’s mother really understands the magnitude of her son’s accomplishment, as she herself was a racer back in the day. Nonetheless, let’s see what the Dutchman had to say about the weekend in Italy after he turned it around after a terrible Friday.

Max Verstappen on the Inch Perfect Imola Drive: “I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, and I did not”

Christian Horner, after the Imola GP, explained how the weekend showed Verstappen’s true potential as he pushed to the limit in a car that wasn’t at its best. Doing so, Verstappen equaled Senna’s pole position record and then won the race under pressure. All of this after the very disheartening sessions on Friday felt like a huge win for the whole group. 

Speaking after the race, Max Verstappen said, “I think the whole race I had to push flat out to build a gap at the beginning, and the car worked well on the medium, and in the last 25 laps I had no grip and saw Lando. I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes and I did not.” He added, “We changed a lot on the car, we didn’t have a lot of information going into the race but from where we started the weekend to now, we can be incredibly pleased with a pole and a win. I’ll take that!”

What did you make of Verstappen’s Imola win? Could Norris have overtaken the Red Bull if the race was a lap longer?