Multiple SA circuit-racing champion, Claudio Piazza Musso, has raced against Max Verstappen’s parents. In his latest submission, Formula One Father Figures, he delves into the behaviour of F1 drivers by looking at their parental influences.

Drivers in F1 are constantly being scrutinised, criticised, idolised and often compared to each other. But what about the people who influence these greats? Do parents mould the mindset of F1 drivers? If so, who are the most visible masterminds behind the drivers currently racing in F1?

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Family ties

With drivers such as George Russell and Lando Norris, I see little involvement from their parents. There are some really influential characters in the paddock such as Lawrence Stroll, who has played a major role in his son’s racing life, but not from a driving point of view, more in a financial support role.

Read another column of Claudio’s at this link where he examines hot-heads in racing.

Kimi Raikkonen is possibly the classic ‘lone ranger’ that just does what he does. Nothing really changes who he is or how he drives. Sergio Perez and ex-F1 driver, Felipe Massa, have always enjoyed great family support which aided their passion for F1. It allowed them the opportunity to go further and to remain in the sport for longer than some others. 

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Being human

Even a mature driver like Sebastian Vettel enjoys a track walk with his dad. An endearing and special experience shared between loved ones which shows the world how racing drivers are still normal human beings, like you and me, at the end of the day who need support and encouragement from their families.

Valtteri Bottas doesn’t seem to have visible family support, except for his new girlfriend whom we occasionally see footage of at the track. This highlights how some drivers prefer to fly solo or perhaps mitigating circumstances might influence these situations.

If you want to be a quicker racer driver contact Claudio’s company Race Driver SA for expert advice and coaching.

The hard charger

Heading to the sharp end of the grid we find two very ambitious and fast drivers. One is still young and hungry while the other is older, established and, arguably, the greatest the sport has ever seen and one who is still not done racing.

Click here to read why Piazza Musso thinks Lewis is one of the best of all time.

Lewis Hamilton started with his dad by his side. Anthony Hamilton played a pivotal role in his son’s career from grass roots level all the way to F1. This included being his manager and assisting Lewis with everything he needed to go racing. Having said that, how much of a role did Anthony play in his son’s driving skills and decisions on where the racing limits and boundaries are? 

A breakup in their relationship saw Lewis move on and become more of his own person. One gets a distinct feeling that Lewis is more himself, rather than an extension of his parents, especially regarding his racing career and driving skills. 

Young lion

The other character at the sharp end of the field is the talented, if super aggressive, Max Verstappen. Max has had a unique upbringing in the F1 world. His mother Sophie and father Jos raced in karting for many years and were both super-fast. I know this, as I raced against Jos for numerous years in Formula Super A while Sophie raced at the very front of Formula A. Unfortunately, Sophie’s career ended abruptly when she wed Jos and had their son Max. Jos pursued his racing career and made it all the way to F1. 

Looming large

Today we often see Jos in the pits. He seems to be very involved in Max’s racing career and often has something to say about driving attributes or incidents on track. This leads us to wonder: is Max’s aggressive driving style coincidence or is it a direct reflection of his parents past and his father’s constant input and advice?

Having raced with Jos and watched him constantly crashing with many other drivers, particularly Giancarlo Fisichella, time and time again, even on the warmup lap at Jesolo in 1990, I have a strong opinion and viewpoint on the impact Jos’ mentoring and approach to racing has had on Max’s racing mindset and tactics. Sophie was a very smooth and fast driver which could be where Max inherited his natural speed from.

An impressive driver

I must say up front, I’m impressed with how polished and refined Max is compared to his father Jos. When the older Verstappen got to F1 his approach was always flat out and he never lifted off anywhere. This meant that he crashed, a lot. Max has always shown tremendous speed with great control. I am impressed with his natural talent and speed.

He has taken his father’s aggressive race tactics and refined them to the point that he is the masterclass of aggressive racing 95% of the time and so much so, that the rules of aggressive driving have been tested and stretched to the point that there are almost no rules if you are sensible enough to not crash with Max. The most recent incident with Lewis Hamilton in Brazil and the FIA’s lack of ruling on the driving conduct is a prime example.

A better Jos

I am convinced that Max’s driving style and mannerisms are directly influenced by his father on an ongoing counsel and furthermore, emotional support at the races. We are witnessing a polished version of Jos in his son, which to be honest, is awesome to watch as it is pure entertainment, gets the blood racing and at times even boiling and has also brought out the craziness and passion from the surrogate fathers of Lewis and Max, Toto and Christian.

It is almost more entertaining watching Toto and Christian going at each other in interviews and the on camera facial expressions and emotions from both while extrapolating the on-track racing moments and incidents between their two drivers. At the end of it all, parents are often very much a part of the sport and add the flavour and spice needed to create an amazing show and spectacle.

The views of contributors/columnists published on this platform are held in their personal capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of Double Apex.