F1 champion Max Verstappen's 'nerve-wracking' admission about life as a father

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen's 'nerve-wracking' admission about life as a father

Max Verstappen now has more to get home for after F1 race weekends

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 9 May 2026 19:57

Now that Max Verstappen is a father, he can better relate to his own dad, Jos Verstappen, who used to be tough on him in his early racing days.

Verstappen junior seems to be gaining more of an appreciation for his father's work in the early days of he and his sister's childhood.

The Dutchman became a father himself last year, with partner Kelly Piquet giving birth to baby Lily Verstappen-Piquet.

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Over the years, much has been written about Max’s journey to Formula 1. The results speak for themselves. He has exceeded expectations in the sport’s highest echelon and, with four championships to his name, his career is already a resounding success.

Yet when the Dutchman made his debut in 2015, his future in F1 was far from certain. It wasn’t until the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016 that he won his first race, and Abu Dhabi in 2021 that he clinched his first world title.

And Verstappen has admitted in the past that his father was hard on him during his early racing days, but the pair share a close relationship now, both being racers and both being fathers.

Verstappen's 'nerve-wracking' father experience

Now, Verstappen has opened up on life as a father, and how he now has more to get back home for following race weekends.

"She seems to like me a lot, so that's good," he told PEOPLE about baby Lily. "We spend a lot of private time at home, so it's just really cute.

"I know what I want. I know I also want to take my private time and now of course you, after a race weekend you try to head home and prioritise that probably a little bit more than you used to," Verstappen said of how becoming a dad has changed his perspective on his life, career and the future.

Now being a dad himself, the F1 star - who has been more open about wanting to retire since welcoming a baby - opened up about the duality of experiencing the sport both as a son and as a father, admitting it's 'probably more nerve wracking as a parent.'

"But it's a really cool story to be able to have done that together. It's probably something that we will think about and cherish for life," Verstappen said of his bond with father Jos. "You give up a lot of your time to try and get to your end goal, and of course we've done that, we did that."

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Jos Verstappen Kelly Piquet