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Reuters

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Reuters

Enrique Bernoldi is a Brazilian racing driver who raced for Arrows in the 2001 and 2002 Formula 1 season alongside Jos Verstappen, father of Max Verstappen.

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The Brazilian performed respectably for the Arrows team, occasionally matching his more experienced teammate Jos Verstappen for pace.

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Jos Verstappen raced for the likes of Benetton, Arrows, and Minardi in F1, taking two podiums over 106 starts. However, now Jos mentors his son Max who currently leads the Drivers’ Championship and ahead of 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton by 4 points.

In an interview, the Brazilian revealed the details of the tense atmosphere with Jos Verstappen during his time with Arrows in 2001 and 2002 and the strange meeting with Max Verstappen in the bathroom.

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Bernoldi shares his encounter with little Max Verstappen

“One time, before a race, Max came to Arrows’ RV and stared at me. He probably heard his dad talk badly about me at home, so he stared at me,” said Enrique Bernoldi in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.

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“He went into the bathroom and had a plastic boot on. I heard noises and looked. Then he stepped into the toilet bowl and the boot got stuck.

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“I picked it up and handed it to his mother. The boot was still on, she had to take it with her. That is the only story I have with Max. ” (Quotes translated from German via Google Translate)

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Bernoldi shares a tense moment with Jos Verstappen

The Brazilian driver admits that being a Jos Verstappen teammate was difficult. He shared an instance when Verstappen Senior crashed in Magny-Cours, and he has to exchange cars with him.

“The first time I qualified before him was in Brazil. He started to get nervous because I always qualified before him. Then, in Magny-Cours, in Friday practice, he turned and drove into the gravel.

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“When I saw that, I celebrated. You always want to be better than your teammate. But when I pitted, the team said, ‘Get out of the car’,” recalls the Brazilian driver.

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“He was driving my car and I wasn’t driving. So I could only get back into the car for qualifying. But the two times he drove my car, I was faster in qualifying. So I got him said: ‘Don’t drive my car anymore, I’m faster than you anyway.’ I was very angry. “

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Pingaksh Sharma

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Pingaksh Sharma is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. He has been following this sport since India hosted the Grand Prix in 2012 and has been an ardent supporter of the eventual race winner, Sebastian Vettel. He is also a fan of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, and hopes the former breaks Lewis Hamilton's dominance. When he is not watching or writing about F1, Pingaksh can be found hiking with his friends.

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