WATCH: F1 racing driver Max Verstappen shares his love story

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen shared his story of how he fell in love with racing during childhood. The four-time world champion is gearing up for his title defence this season. But unlike last year, this time, he is not the favourite to win the title.

Many experts and fans are predicting it will be either McLaren or Ferrari who will win the world title this year. But you can never take Verstappen out of competition, as the Dutchman is a real talent who believes in his driving skills rather than machines. 

In Brazil last year, he proved that Formula 1 still needs amazing and talented drivers. While McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes drivers struggled in the rain, Verstappen valiantly raced with his Red Bull car and won the race by more than 20+ seconds. 

This was seen as one of the greatest displays of talent during an F1 race in a long time. Many compared that race with Ayrton Senna’s Monaco GP, Lewis Hamilton’s Turkish GP, Michael Schumacher’s Belgium GP and Sebastian Vettel’s Italian Grand Prix wins. 

He silenced his critics who questioned his racing skills, as in the race before, he had an incident with Lando Norris in Mexico. All these didn't just come overnight for him, as he was trained by his father, Jos Verstappen, to become a tougher and more aggressive Formula 1 driver.

WATCH: Max Verstappen shares his racing love story 

max: “i fell in love with racing, in a go-kart, low to the ground, high speed and for me that’s the best. qualifying, low fuel. that’s what i enjoy and most of the other things… i don’t like.” 😭 pic.twitter.com/PirzbrxJRz

— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) March 10, 2025

Jos Verstappen was more influenced by his teammate Michael Schumacher and wanted his son to become a good driver like him. He eventually trained him into a race-winning machine, especially when there was rain. Max Verstappen himself shared the story of how he fell in love with racing. The Dutchman said, “I fell in love with racing in a go-kart, low to the ground, high speed and for me that’s the best. Qualifying, low fuel. That’s what I enjoy, and most of the other things, I don’t like.”

The 2025 F1 season is the most expected one, as many predict this year will be a 4-way battle between Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes. Even Williams is predicted to become the midfield leader against other teams. The 2025 season starts with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne's Albert Park circuit.

Also read: Marc Marquez predicted to repeat Max Verstappen's 2023 F1 season.