How Verstappen's karting years made an F1 champion -- and prepared him for a new test

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  Laurence EdmondsonSep 15, 2026, 01:56 AM ET

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  • Joined ESPN in 2009
  • An FIA accredited F1 journalist since 2011
  

On Sept. 16, Max Verstappen will attempt to overtake 100 other drivers in a unique go-karting challenge at Silverstone, live on Disney+. Ahead of the event, ESPN caught up with the four-time world champion to discuss his long history of go-karting and the years he spent honing his skills at tracks across Europe.

Between the ages of four and 15, Max Verstappen's life revolved around go-kart tracks.

Weekends would be spent racing all around Europe, initially close to home in Belgium and the Netherlands and then further afield in Italy, Spain and the U.K. in his early teens.

His father, Jos, a former Formula 1 driver, would load Max's kart into the back of their van ahead of every race weekend and drive his son across the length and breadth of Europe to the next event. During the height of Max's karting career, Jos calculated they were clocking up more than 60,000 motorway miles per year as the father-and-son team hoovered up trophies on a path destined for F1.

"It was a really nice period in my life," Max recalls. "All different kinds of conditions, tracks, travels.

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"Sometimes it wasn't even the race weekend I loved the most, but just the travel experience together with my dad; in the van, talking a lot about life, talking a lot about the current, but also, of course, where we were trying to head to.

"For sure, go-karting has been a massive part of my life."

On weekdays, Jos would pick Max up after school and take him directly to his workshop to work on his kart engines. Max was encouraged to get his hands dirty from an early age, and the hours of tinkering after school would only come to an end when it was time to head home for dinner. Once they'd eaten, Max would go up to bed and Jos would return to the workshop, sometimes until midnight, until every last performance advantage had been found.

"My dad was my mechanic and my engine tuner as well," Max recalls. "We had our own dyno also in the workshop, so we did a lot in-house.

"I know a lot of dads are mechanics or they work with their son, but I don't know anyone that has done it so intensively.

"My dad really understood what was needed from the go-kart, but also from the engine."

The local kart circuit in Genk, Belgium became the Verstappens' second home. All through the year Max would take to the track multiple times a week to test new parts while learning to brake later, rotate the kart more precisely, and get on the throttle earlier.

Even in the wet winter months when other karters would pack up early and go home, the Verstappens would continue to clock up the mileage. Max would stay out on track until his hands felt frozen to the bone and he could barely feel his fingertips.

"I would warm my gloves on the exhaust because it's quite hot," he says with a smile. "You could put your gloves on it for a little bit and then take them off and they would be warm.

"It works really well, but the problem is when you're really cold and you heat them up your fingers swell up because of the increase of blood flow. Sometimes you were driving a bit with thick hands. But it all makes you tougher as a driver and as a kid at the time."

'You only get one shot at this'

The school Max was attending in Belgium didn't recognise go-karting as a sport, which made it difficult to get exemptions from class for races on the other side of Europe. When he did, the young Verstappen tried to focus on his homework during those 10- or 12-hour road trips in the van, but ultimately his schoolwork never came as easily as the karting trophies.

"It was tough. Sometimes I would come back home and you arrive on a Monday back, and you've kind of missed a week of lecturing and you try to catch up within two or three days of what was missed.

"With that already I didn't like school, so it was a bit tough.

"I always targeted to do something in life where school was not necessary. Plus, at the same time, I always said to myself, even if it doesn't work out in racing I can always go back to school.

"You only get one shot at this. If you fail because you try to catch up on school, I think I would always kick myself. School you can always catch up on."

It's hard to believe now, but early in Max's karting journey there was a moment when Jos wasn't sure if his son had the talent to make it all the way to F1. He had been karting for over a year and making steady progress, but then, ahead of his sixth birthday, the lap times stopped improving.

"I think there was a time when my dad was questioning it a little bit," Max says. "We always went to that same track in Genk, and at one point I stalled a little bit -- when you are four years old naturally there is a progression, but I think around five-and-a-half or six years old it was like I plateaued. We went again and again and again and I didn't really get faster.

"I just kept being a couple of tenths off what I needed to be, of the older guys because that is what you compare yourself to. Then my dad had a good idea. We went to a different track for the first time, so I drove somewhere new for the first time.

"It actually went really well on that particular track, so when I went back to Genk it also clicked and I suddenly just picked up pace.

"Maybe my mind needed a little reset of just seeing different corners and a different combination of corners.

"I spoke about it with my dad years later, but I remember the scene of going to Genk over and over again and going to that other track for the first time, I do remember that.

"At the time I didn't know that my dad was so worried about my pace, but I do remember the sequence because it went really well on that particular track. My dad was like, 'tomorrow we go again but to Genk.' I was like 'alright, sure. I drive wherever.'"

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Was there ever a time when Max didn't enjoy the endless pursuit of lap time?

"I always loved it and I think you always want to go out and go fast," he says.

"But of course there are also moments where maybe it's not going so well. You don't love it to 100%. But at the end of the day I would always wake up the next day wanting to go.

"It's like in life. There are better days and there are worse days."

How Jos Verstappen prepared Max for F1

In Jos, Max had a mechanic, an engineer and a driver coach. Every time they arrived for a test session, there would be a plan to ensure every lap resulted in progress towards the end goal of winning the next race, fighting for the next championship, and inching closer to the dream of F1.

"When we went karting there was always a clear strategy behind it with my dad, in terms of what we were practicing," Max says.

"My dad never said to me 'just go out and have fun.' No, we go out because we're testing or preparing. There was always a very strict strategy behind it.

"Even when we would go on summer holidays, of course we would also spend time on the beach, but we had go-karting days where we would create mini races.

"So one time I would start first, then second, third, last. With however many people we were with, which was mainly 7-8 people maximum. So one time you start first, then last, or you're in the middle.

"We would create these little start scenarios and overtaking scenarios. It was really fun."

The nostalgia Max feels for those endless days of karting is almost tangible as he sits in Red Bull's F1 paddock hospitality. The dream he had as a kid was ultimately fulfilled in 2021 when he won his first Formula 1 title before going on to take three more over the following three years.

Now a father himself, it begs the question of whether he can see himself becoming a karting dad?

"You don't know," he says. "I think what is always very important as a parent is that you support them in whatever they want to do.

"It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, but for me, I'm not going to be the parent that is going to push them into a racing scenario. If they want to do it, sure. I will make sure that she or he will have the best possibilities.

"But I'm not going to actively push it. They need to want it.

"I hope they do something else -- I hope they play tennis or play football!"

Max vs 100: Can Verstappen pass them all?

The freezing cold test days and overtaking drills during his summer holidays will likely come in useful next week as Max attempts to pass 100 karts on a specially designed kart track at Silverstone. The furthest back he can remember starting on a grid during his karting career was 10th or 11th and he hasn't driven a competitive go-kart since 2016 (his track days away from F1 are now firmly focused on GT racing).

"A hundred is a lot, you know, but I think how they've set up the track from what they've shown me, I think it will be good," Max says of the challenge. "But it's still going to be hectic, for sure."

And in terms of a strategy, will Max, to borrow one of his own phrases, go "full send"?

"I think I first need to understand and see the level between drivers.

"I also don't like to overthink the situation. I just need to go with the flow and try to make the best of it.

"I'm hoping that with my background, I should be faster than most. I hope! I mean, it would be quite embarrassing if they're faster than me!"

Max vs 100: When and how do I watch it?

Max vs 100 is taking place on Sept. 16, and will be shown live in the UK on Disney+.

In the U.S., Max vs 100 will also air on the ESPN App for Unlimited subscribers before a delayed ESPN2 broadcast later that day.

The race itself will start at 6 p.m., with the live stream beginning one hour before.

Comedian Mo Gilligan will front the coverage, which is set to include drone footage and live race data.