"She could have been a great racer!" Verstappen's mother gave up her dream for her son
Sophie Kumpen, the mother of Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, was an excellent racing driver and could have competed in F1, reports The Sun. However, she chose to sacrifice her dream in order to focus on raising her children.
In her youth, Kumpen was a Belgian karting champion, racing against men. One of her most memorable victories was in the 1995 Andrea Margutti Trophy, where she defeated F1 star Jarno Trulli.
Despite such success, Sophie decided to leave motorsport at the age of 21, after marrying Jos Verstappen in 1996. She chose to fully dedicate herself to family life and raising children.
"I wanted to get to Formula 1. I had already tried some cars,but I married Max's father and I had to make a decision. He was an F1 driver and we travelled a lot. So I gave up on my dream, but now I'm having a lot of fun seeing that my son is doing what I wanted to do," Sophie told Marca in an interview.
Her son, Max Verstappen, now drives for Red Bull Racing and is a four-time Formula 1 world champion.
Yasmine Green
Dailysports's expert
Translated by the editors
