“Once you start imitating others, you cannot become better than others.”

Max VerstappenTwo-time F1 World Champion, GQ magazine issue 1 hero, dedicated to Men of the Year, athletes, actors, designers, directors, musicians, TV creators and other men who have promoted culture and focused on women. And in the interviews he did, he spoke candidly about his father’s role in building and teaching as a pilot, his return to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, or Michael Jordan.

On his role as coach for his father, former F1 driver Jos Verstappen “I kept playing and had a lot of fun, but I also had to understand that what we were doing was serious because I was working to achieve something. “From age 7 to 11, of course, it got pretty intense, but he wanted me to come see what he was doing… I wanted him to go cart.” I saw you take everything off and put it back in. I would understand the mechanics behind it.All these kinds of things he was trying to explain to me, no kidding, we enjoy I wanted you to understand that I’m not here for you, and to the top.”

Max remembers that this attitude set him apart from his competitors. “I was more involved in everything and took it in a more professional way. It takes tenacity.”

Nevertheless, Jose left a somewhat disturbed wake in his wake. Along with allegations of assault and violence on and off the track, Joss also maintained a purpose that permeated his relationship with Verstappen during his karting days. At the final race of the 2012 season, Joss built the best car ever. The question wasn’t whether Max would win the final race of the season, but how much. Max started slow and had to pass the leader, but he chased him too early and too aggressively and ended up crashing. he says introspectively.

On the drive home after the race, Verstappen repeatedly talked about his mistakes and Jos angrily dropped him off at a nearby petrol station. Joss eventually came back to pick up Verstappen, but he didn’t speak to him for the whole week. “He didn’t speak to me for at least a week. He was so angry he couldn’t even talk to me. I felt terrible. It’s helped me a lot because I started thinking more about how it affects people and how to better handle them.

“I know that sounds horrible. I’m sure some people can’t behave like that, but I needed it. He had a personality that needed that kind of treatment.” I think,” explains Verstappen.

The Formula 1 star has disappeared from one of F1’s most important marketing tools, the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.Verstappen has opted out of the last two seasons because he didn’t like his freedom taken away by fabricating drama. But this summer, Max and Netflix seem to have reached a truce.

“It’s good to understand what we want from each other, right? And I think the interviews we did were so good… I want to make it as real as possible. You know, fake No moves or overrated rolls because I’m not.I just want to get to the point and give my opinion and give my perspective on things.Of course we still have to see the final product , all sound pretty good.”

P.Despite his initial gripes with Drive to Survive, Max is a fan of Netflix’s other sports documentaries. “I like to see how other people behave,” he told me. Not surprisingly, one of his favorites is The Last Dance (about the NBA). “Of course, not everything is 100 percent true of him, because this is a documentary and a lot of things are exaggerated,” he says. “But I loved the spirit of Michael Jordan, how he was able to do it and wanted to win more than anything else.”

The Jordan comparison is compelling from a competitive standpoint, but it’s a mistake to think Max wants to emulate someone. I grew up in side-by-side rooms. Had a life size cardboard replica of his father from his F1 days. He never said to himself, “I want to be like this person.” I just wanted to be myself. This is the method that works best. When you start imitating people, you can only be like them. You will never get better”