Lewis Hamilton warns Max Verstappen of ‘fine line’ when working with dads in F1
Lewis Hamilton says Jos Verstappen’s very public calls for Christian Horner to resign are “unhelpful” for his son Max, adding the father-son dynamic in Formula One is “a really difficult one”.
Hamilton, 39, speaks from experience. After being guided and managed by his father Anthony through karting and junior formulae, the pair went their separate ways after Hamilton’s first three seasons in Formula One. The seven-time world champion later admitted they did not speak for months and it took years for their relationship to recover fully.
“I don’t know the details of it,” Hamilton said when asked about Jos’s comments. “So I don’t know what he’s basing these foundations off.
“But at the end of the day, he’s not a part of the team, he’s a parent. And so that’s just an opinion, but it’s definitely not helpful.”
Asked how difficult it was to have a parent closely involved in a driver’s career, Hamilton said it was a delicate balancing act but added that Jos and Max were doing a pretty good job judging by their success.
“I think it is a very thin line to walk,” he said. “I think it’s also dependent on your relationship with your parent.
“You meet some people who have a great relationship with their parents, and they’ve been amazing parents. And then you’ve got people that have had bad relationships.
“So I don’t know about his [Verstappen’s] relationships. Obviously, you hear things here and there. But Max is a grown man, and he’s a champion, and I’m sure he can make his own decisions.
“But I think in our world, as drivers, it’s very, very easy to be misled by people whispering in your ear, and perhaps not guiding you always the right way.
“I’m not saying it’s the case there, because they’re doing great. But I know in sports, other athletes that I’ve spoken to that I see, whether it’s in tennis, and I’ve experienced it, when you sometimes don’t have the right guidance around you, it leads to you either making the wrong decisions, or not being able to perhaps be the best at what you do.
“But that’s obviously clearly not the case there, he’s performing well. So it is very difficult, because you want your parent to be your parent, and have a good relationship. But when business is involved, it makes it really difficult.”
Kevin Magnussen, who like Verstappen is the son of a former F1 driver, was also asked for his views on the father-son dynamic in Formula One. The Haas driver said he made it very clear early in his career that he did not want father Jan to play a role in managing him.
“I think he had to adjust to that, but I was very, very clear that I wanted this to be my journey, my project. And he’s been super good at that. I’ve had my own team of people, I haven’t asked my dad, I’ve just done my own thing. So I think that’s worked well.”
Hamilton concluded by saying that he did not feel the ongoing controversies in the sport were a “good look”.
“As someone who loves the sport, it is definitely disappointing to see what is going on right now,” he said. “It doesn’t look good from the outside world and it doesn’t look good from within.
“It is a really pivotal moment for the sport in terms of what we project to the world and how it’s handled – and it’s not been handled very well to this point and transparency is really key.
“We talk about diversity, inclusion and making people feel comfortable in this environment is key, and that’s clearly not the case.”
