'Jos Verstappen was tough, but I never saw him hitting Max'
Red Bull Contentpool
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Anyone who knows Jos Verstappen a little, knows that Max's father is a tremendously kind man. Yet the former F1 driver's image is very much black and white. His long timefriend Richard Pex, who assisted Max in the early years in karts, knows Verstappen senior through and through, and has witnessed up close how the - according to the outside world - tough Jos prepared his son for Formula 1.
Speaking to Formula 1, Pex states that he regularly reads stories about Jos and Max's upbringing that raise eyebrows. "Yes, Jos was tough, but I have never seen Jos hit Max. And I was there for everything," says the entrepreneur.
Jos and Pex have a click, the latter says. "I have a click with Jos. We are real friends, through thick and thin. Have been through and talked through all the ups and downs," Pex states. He then goes on to say, "Jos was not the easiest, but it always worked out and came out well. And that makes us both proud."
Honest and straightforward
Verstappen senior and Richard Pex have, the latter assumes, fairly the same character, honest, straightforward. "We didn't always agree with each other, but that was also often done to increase the pressure. Then I'd say, 'Jos, what you're making now won't work anyway'. 'Oh yes,' he would then say, and start working like mad to prove otherwise."
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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