By Josh Kruse

Max Verstappen has become one of Formula 1's most🤡 talked-about drivers following his meteoric rise in the past three years, but how much do you really know about🉐 the sport's youngest ever winner?

ltxcn.top sat down with Verstappen over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend to talk about his seaso🌳n so far, his life away from racing, and his way to prank people with ice cream!

ltxcn.top
Has the beginning of 2017 been more difficult than exp❀ected f🐷or you and Red Bull?

Max Verstappen
Well I never really had many expectations when I started, because then when the car i𝔉s bad or good... it's not like a shock. Unfortunately, it wasn't what many people hoped but that's just how it is, you have to make the best of it I guess.

ltxcn.top
Do you find yourself overdriving the car at all?

Max Verstappen
Not for the m🐈oment. We always try and ex🌺tract the best we can out of it, but it's not that you start to overdrive because that won't work. You just have to make the best out of the situation you're in at the moment.

ltxcn.top
What will be a successful year for you?

Max Verstappen
That we close the gap, and that we're fighting for victories at the end of the season. At the moment that's still not the case, we have to focus race by race if we can improvꦜe on the car.

ltxcn.top
Are you able to identify one element of the car that𝔉 needs improving thඣe most for your driving style?

Max Verstappen
It's not particularly just my driving style, we need more grip on the car💎, as soon as we have more grip then even if the car drives a bit differently I'll adapt to the situation. I t🌳hink that's the key.

ltxcn.top
Goingꦡ back a few years, what was your first memory of 🍎motorsport?

Max Verstappen
My first memory of motor racing, I think it was just attending a go kart race. When I was very little my Dad had his own go kart team 🌳as well while he was still in F1, so I always joined and riding through the paddock on my bicycle.

ltxcn.top
Did you get to race for your Dad's team?

Max Verstappen
No because my Dad stopped when I started racing. So he sold ev🗹erything and then sta🔥rted with me.

ltxcn.top
How old were you when you first jumped in the kart🗹?

Max Verstappen
I was four and a half years old. You're allowed to race from seven years onwards, so I just started having fun driving laps. When you're seven years old it starts to get a bit more se🙈rious.

ltxcn.top
You have a close relationship with 𝓰your Dad, what was it like growing up? Were you surrounded by racing or did you get to decide what you wanted to do?

Max Verstappen
Well I think the most important thing is that you enjoy it yourself. I think it shouldn't be pusಞhed from your𝄹 parents, I think that's very important.

ltxcn.top
Do you remember your first race?

Max Verstappen
It was actually a very good weekend, I qualified on pole and won both races. I could see my Dad because he was my mechanic, and he was so nervous because it was my first race and the procedures and everything ꦓwas new to me. At the end of♎ the day it was a great weekend.

ltxcn.top
What track was it?

Max Verstappen
In the north of Holland, it w𝓡as called Emmen. It's quit💜e a small track. I ran a mini kart for small kids.

ltxcn.top
Who is the fastest Verstappen?

Max Verstappen
Umm, I think I would say me! And my Dad would say me as well, because he always tried to make me better than him. I'm liꦦke a Verst⭕appen 2.0.

ltxcn.top
Do you💜 race each other back home? Does your Mum jump back in the kart?

Max Verstappen
Last year we went for some rental karting, and my Dad and also my Mum joined and my sister joined and some friends of mine. A🍃nd I have to say, my Dad, he's still very quiಞck! If you take the weight penalty and you balance it out we're actually quite close in lap time.

ltxcn.top
So it was like a mini race?

Max Verstappen
Yeah you just race again🐷st each other. And my Mum wasn't bad, she stopped when she was like 24 I think, so for a long time she hasn't been re🌞ally competitive, so it was just like a one-off, but we're all like within a second to one and a half seconds.

ltxcn.top
When was the turning point where you ♚thought, I can be quite competitive here?

Max Verstappen
Eight or nine. You could see it, national races, out of let's say 70 races I won 68. So there wasn't much competition but you're always like 'OK well how will it be international?' ꧙Luckily when I went international I was still having good results. I think when I was 10 years old in the international world I was like 'OK this looks not too bad!'

ltxcn.top
What w🐬as your first 'treat yourself' present you bought yourself when yo♓u became an established racer?

Max Verstappen
A watch maybe? I was about 17.

ltxcn.top
What kind of watch?

Max Verstappen
A nice one!

ltxcn.top
Mixing schoolwork with racing, how did that go?

Max Verstappen
Difficult. I stopped school when I was 15 and a half, after that it was just difficult to combine, I was two weeks away one week at school, so it was very hard to catch up. But it's a risk, I've had a lot of people in racing that did the same, and eventually it doesn't work out and you need to go back to school and study again, and that was my motivation to try to do wel﷽l, so I didn't have to go back to school aft𝓡erwards.

ltxcn.top
Did you enjoy school?

Max Verstappen
No.

ltxcn.top
What was your best subject, you had to have one?

Max Verstappen
There was no su♐bject to be honest. Well maybe the sports side of it, some training at school and all the rest. I did like history, I was always quite interested anꦺd got good grades as well.

ltxcn.top
Worst subject?

Max Verstappen
Just generally the Dutch language, just to write it and stuff. And maths, I was OK at it but I just didn't like it, always thinking and how to solve those pro🤪blems, not my thing.

ltxcn.top
What would you be if you weren't a racing driver?

Max Verstappen
I never really thought about that to be honest! I always wanted to be a racing driver, even if it was not F1 it would be something else. Or do something in🔯 racing in general, I never really thought about it to be honest.

ltxcn.top
When you're not at a race, what do you do to wind down and 💝get away fꦦrom F1?

Max Verstappen
I play FIFA. It's quite intense, like every day.

ltxcn.top
What's your team of choice?

Max Verstappen
Ultimateꦰ te🅺am. So you can select all the players together, who you like.

ltxcn.top
Play against friends or online?

Max Verstappen
Online and with friends. We all have good teams so it's quiteꦉ the rivalry. There's one guy I'm texti🔯ng to every day, because every week new players are coming out, and we're like 'oh we should match those and bring those together', it's really competitive!

ltxcn.top
Have you eve🍌r tried to spook anyone online by saying 'have a guess who I am?'

Max Verstappen
No I really like it that they don't know who 🍃I am!

ltxcn.top
In F3 you raced against some impressive names, how did you find 🐻racing i🧔n that season?

Max Verstappen
It was good, we were a bit unfortunate with some retirements I had that season, but at the end of the day we won most races. In your rookie season I think that's very good, had a good laugh with the team as well, they were really great to work with, especially since you're a bit of an underdog, it's always nice. If you jump into the best car and the best team then everybody says, 'that's pretty normal' that you do this, but when you start with a team before that was driving maybe in the top 15, and you start winning races it's always very nice. I have great memories, it was a great car and I definitely enjoyed it a lot. It helpꦫed me a lot to become the driver I am today.

ltxcn.top
What was th෴e feeling like when you signed with Red Bull, youꦅ were obviously quite happy but did you expect it?

Max Verstappen
When I started in F3 I never thought that would be happening after like six or seven events. It was special I wo🐼uld say at that young ag♉e.

ltxcn.top
What was the reason behind choosing number 33?

Max Verstappen
Becaꦗuse I wanted number 3 but that was already taken by Dꦓaniel so, maybe double luck we took 33!

ltxcn.top
On your relationship with Daniel, how doe𝓀s that go? Has he taught you any Aussie 'jargon'?

Max Verstappen
No, I'm not good at that anyway with the accent, I can't do it. He's a great guy and a good laugh. Last week we had an event to promote the event in Austria and at one point we were laughing so much I was almost crying! It was really intense, it's a good relationship. Of course, on the track you try to beat each other I think that's preꦍtty normal, but off track we can be good mates as well, so that's important.

ltxcn.top
What circu🥃it would you most like to see back on the F1 calendar?

Max Verstappen
I heard Turkey was really n♒ice. And then I would say Zandvoort is very special, but it's ღalso to have a proper home Grand Prix, that would be nice.

ltxcn.top
Two easy questions to finish off the interview. What are your top three emojis that y🌜൲ou use on your phone?

Max Verstappen
The cheeky one 💙where it goes like this (making a smirking face), the laughing one where he's crying, and I think the thumbs up.

ltxcn.top
What's the worst joke that you know?

Max Verstappen
Worst joke? That's difficult to get one now, and they're all Dutch anyway so it's hard to relate to an English one. I do like the 'what do you have on your shirt?' And then you like flick thei🐠r face. Or with an ice-cream, you can be like, 'do you smell this ice-cream?' and then you push it on their face, those kinds of things!

ltxcn.top:
Awesome job, thanks very much Max.

Max Verstappen:
No problem, have a great day.