Max Verstappen’s father Jos responds after fake picture prompts health fears
Max Verstappen's father, Jos, has addressed wild rumours surrounding his health.
Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, has cleared up rumours surrounding his health after a fake image of him sparked concerns over his wellbeing.
Fears were raised online after an apparent image of Verstappen emerged on social media, prompted wild speculation about the ex-Formula 1 driver, but the picture turned out to be AI-generated.
Verstappen shared a real image of himself on Instagram as he addressed the rumours and confirmed he is in fact in good health.
"Everything is fine with me. I'm not sick, just having a bad hair day,” the 54-year-old Dutchman captioned his post on Monday.
Verstappen had appeared in a segment for Viaplay over the weekend during the United States Grand Prix.
From this, someone took a screenshot and doctored the image, misleading others that Verstappen could be ill.
Verstappen’s son, Max, finished third in Austin as he was officially knocked out of title contention this season.
The four-time world champion Verstappen was looking to make it three consecutive victories but had to settle with the final spot on the podium at COTA.
In his new autobiography, Drive, former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made a bombshell claim surrounding the signing of Verstappen.
Horner alleged that Marko was not keen on signing Verstappen, adding that it was Verstappen’s father who ultimately played a decisive role in making the deal happen.
Marko dismissed Horner’s version of events in a recent interview with Austrian outlet oe24.
"I'm ignoring it as much as possible," said Marko, who agreed with ex-F1 driver and current Sky Sports pundit Ralf Schumacher who described Horner’s account as “an absolute lie”.
"Marko approached Max when he was just 11 and a half years old,” Schumacher claimed.
“At the time, Jos said it was still too early for him. The doctor, as you know him, was a bit miffed and said: 'Okay, if you don't want to, then so be it.’"
Marko added: "It worked out well the way it did. Max was successful in karting back then, and we had no idea about that.
"Later in Formula 3, we would have grown closer again, and that's how this unprecedented success story came about.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
