'Never good enough': Max Verstappen shares father's brutal advice

Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing — Photo: © IMAGO

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'Never good enough': Max Verstappen shares father's brutal advice

Max Verstappen is the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 22 February 2026 11:55

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Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has shared the shocking advice his father Jos Verstappen gave that has kept the Red Bull star hungry to excel throughout his racing career.

Even after picking up four drivers' titles in F1 with Red Bull, Verstappen is still searching for ways to improve through the fine margins as one of the sport's top talents.

And F1 isn't even the only racing series where the Dutchman is looking to succeed.

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As a complete overhaul of the chassis and power unit regulations enters F1, Verstappen has not been shy about the fact he would seriously consider leaving the sport if he no longer enjoys driving the cars, especially if it meant he could tick off other achievements on his racing bucket list.

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Verstappen: 'I'm never satisfied with any result'

Verstappen proved he meant business as a true racer last September when he won on his GT3 race debut at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, and he also has plenty to keep himself busy away from the track as a premier driver and ambassador for Team Redline, one of the world's most successful professional sim racing teams.

In a recent episode of the new Up to Speed podcast, Sky Sports F1 analyst and former driver Naomi Schiff asked Verstappen about his frequent use of the sim and whether he feels it plays a role in his proven adaptability across different racing categories.

Verstappen replied: "I'm constantly thinking about how also I can improve or find performance. I'm never satisfied with any kind of result.

"I always come out of a weekend I'm like, ‘could we have tried something else, could we have tried more’ and I think it's always that hunger of trying to find more performance.

The 28-year-old then expanded on where this tough attitude came from, detailing how his father Jos had always taught him that simply winning wasn't enough.

"My dad from a young age always told me even when you win races it's never good enough," Verstappen continued.

"There’s always things that you have to look back at and, ‘could I have done this better or could I have looked into this detail more, or could we have looked into the engine more, could we have had a different setup’ and that's what I also try to apply this is also what I always try to explain in the sim racing team to my sim drivers."

Who is Jos Verstappen?

Jos Verstappen competed in F1 between 1994 and 2003 and started out at Benetton alongside racing icon, Michael Schumacher.

The father of the current Red Bull F1 star Max Verstappen went on to drive for Simtek, Footwork, Tyrrell, Stewart, Arrows and Minardi, although he never managed to improve on his career best finish of P3 after standing on the podium twice in his maiden campaign.

F1 Max Verstappen Jos Verstappen