Christian Horner recalls racing Max Verstappen’s mother in his junior karting years

Christian Horner met Sophie Kumpen in the 1989 Junior Karting World Championship.

Christian Horner recalls racing Max Verstappen’s mother in his junior karting years

Christian Horner (L- via IMAGO) Max Verstappen with his mother Sophie Kumpen (R- via The Sun)

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reveals that during his early karting competitions, one of his racing rivals was Max Verstappen‘s mother. Horner believes Verstappen’s mother had the same potential he sees in her son. Horner was one of the main men who brought Verstappen into the Formula 1 racing world. 

Sophie Kumpen, Verstappen’s mother, was a junior karting champion and a professional racing driver. Kumpen had racing skills in both karts and cars and had raced in the world championships of Formula A, K, and Super A classes. Even Verstappen’s father and former Formula 1 driver, Jos Verstappen, was one of the finest F1 drivers of his time. There’s no doubt racing flows into the family of Verstappen.

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In a recent interview, the Red Bull team principal said:

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I raced in the 1989 Junior Karting World Championship. And I raced against Max Verstappen's mum. We met when we were 13.

Kumpen started karting when she was just 11 and raced against famous drivers such as Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Jenson Button, and Nick Heidfeld.

Further, Christian Horner replied when asked if he could’ve predicted that one day he would be the team principal of her son’s team. He said that none of them could have predicted it. In 1997, Kumpen became a mother to Max Verstappen and then again in 1999 to Victoria Verstappen.

How good was Sophie Kumpen in her racing career?

Max Verstappen’s mother, Sophie Kumpen’s career wasn’t as glamorous and legendary as her son’s or husband’s. Kumpen never really made it into Formula 1. Previously, Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan and driver David Coulthard named Kumpen when asked to name any woman driver worthy of an F1 seat.

Max Verstappen's mother Sophie Kumpen
Sophie Kumpen (via Medium)

Kumpen says she was always told that her driving style was very fluid and that she set consistent times. Her biggest victory was in 1995 when she won the Andrea Margutti Trophy. When she was 11, she had already raced with the likes of Button, Fisichella, and Heidfeld.

Sophie stopped racing when Max and his sister Victoria were born so she could take care of them. Although she did make a comeback in 2013 during the Formido Swift Cup that unfortunately ended up in a crash.

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