Verstappen reflects on shared F1 goal with father after Sepang win

Max Verstappen’s first grand prix win of 2026 came at Sepang in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. RacingNews365 reported that his father, Jos, was seen showing emotion beside the pit wall.

At the post-race press conference, Verstappen was asked about his father’s emotional reaction to the milestone. He said he and Jos understand each other well after years of working towards their Formula 1 goal. Jos remains in the background, Verstappen said, and does not attend every race; when his father is there, they talk a lot about everything. He added that Jos knows everything.

Verstappen guessed that the beginning of the 2026 season had not been pleasant for his father to watch. He said he himself had not enjoyed driving the car. He credited Red Bull’s progress and said the team had kept working to fix its problems. He described the team spirit as very good and said everyone was happy to have finally delivered a result like this.