Max Verstappen is having the best Formula One season in his career so far. The man in form has so far won five races out of the nine races in the 2021 season. Max is currently leading the drivers’ championship with 182 points, being the first Dutch driver to do so.

Despite being much younger, he is giving a tough competition to the seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, who is second in the drivers’ championship with 150 points and is looking to clinch his record-breaking eighth world championship.

Like all drivers, Max’s motorsport journey began way before he entered F1. But unlike most of his colleagues, he hails from a racing family. It is a well-known fact that he is the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. Jos, one of the best drivers to have raced for the Netherlands. Verstappen Sr has been sighted on track multiple times and has also played a huge role in Max’s racing career.

However, what most people don’t know is that Jos isn’t Max’s only parent with a racing background; his mother, too, is a former racer.

So, who is Sophie Kumpen?

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Sophie Kumpen, mother of Max Verstappen

His mother, Sophie Kumpen, is a former kart racer. Having started karting at an early age, she competed in the Formula A World Championship at the age of 16, and finished ninth.

Sophie has driver against some of the finest F1 drivers during her karting days, including former F1 World Champion Jenson Button. In fact, she has raced against her son’s boss, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner, as well!

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In an interview, Christian revealed that he has raced against Max’s mother.  “I raced against his mum.”

“In 1989, I raced against her in the Junior Kart World Championship. In that race were some super talented drivers; Jan Magnussen, Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Dario Franchitti. She was top 10 in the world, for sure.”

Interestingly, she hails from a sporting family herself, with her father, Robert Kumpen, being the chairman of the KRC Genk, a Belgian Football Club, and her brother, Paul Kumpen, being a racer as well.