Michael Schumacher’s Friendship Absolves Jos Verstappen of Rumored Tough Love for Son Max

Michael Schumacher & Jos Verstappen never wished to send their sons into racing. There was this famous interview in the F1 paddock where both veterans mentioned their sons Max & Mick. The logic was perhaps to safeguard them from the risks of F1 & motorsport & also maybe get a bit of variety in their sporting experience. Although, like fathers, like sons – Max Verstappen & Mick Schumacher both ended up in F1. While Mick is struggling, Max has risen like a conqueror, demolishing the F1 grid. Some people often cite that it is perhaps due to the rumored tough love Jos gave him.

Jos Verstappen has developed this image of a tough & strict father who forged his son into shape to develop his ruthless champion mentality. While that may be true at some level, he still has a gentle side. F1 veteran & journalist Peter Windsor unveiled the same alluding to his friendship with Schumacher.

Is Jos Verstappen misunderstood?

The camaraderie between Michael Schumacher & Jos Verstappen is well-documented. While they raced hard on the track, off-track, they were best buddies. In his YouTube Live chat on the Japanese GP, Peter Windsor cited the beauty of their friendship & proving otherwise on Jos’s tough & harsh image.

Windsor stated how Jos will have had a major influence in molding Max’s racing brain & developing his understanding of how to be a ruthless champion driver. However, he also explained that it doesn’t mean that he is a very strict & harsh father to the Dutch champ. He stated, “And I think Jos would have been pretty much involved in the way that racing brain was molded. Jos yea was tough & hard. The Jos I know is a very funny, nice guy.”

“I don’t know this incredibly tough Jos. And don’t forget he was very very good buddies with Michael [Schumacher] as well when they were together & after they weren’t together, Jos went to Arrows, Michael & Jos were very good friends So If Jos was this incredibly harsh, difficult guy, I don’t think Michael would have been friends with him.”

These points do absolve Jos’s image, as he never wanted Max to race in the first place like Michael did for Mick. Given he may have been tough & strict to shape Max into a great competitor. On the other hand, besides this rumored tough love, Jos will have also comforted his son when need be.

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Thus, despite all the gas station anecdotes, Jos Verstappen has been an awesome father for sure. To groom & teach his son & make him a world champion like he is, shows the kind of vision Jos had for him. One can never say like father, like son in their case as Jos never even won a race, let alone setting records like Max. Yet, he is maybe living the dream via his son’s success.

Jos on his “hard” & “tough” ways with Max Verstappen

Jos Verstappen agrees that he has been hard & strict in his ways to groom Max. There have been narratives around his approach that he abused Max & was not very kind to him when he made mistakes. Nevertheless, Jos brushed all these narratives off to put his perspective on the entire saga.

In the documentary ‘Anatomy of a Champion’ by Viaplay, he said, “There are people who say I’m a bad father because I abused my child, I never abused him! I raised him, I was hard on him. That was my plan, many people cannot imagine what it takes to reach the absolute top level of a sport.”

Jos cited how he is not the kind of guy who opens up about such stuff. But to provide insights about these things, his perspective is crucial. Combining it with Windsor’s views about his friendship with Michael, it does point toward absolving his “harsh” father image to some extent.

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What do you think about Jos Verstappen?