Brazilian Grand Prix 2022: Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen become the third “Sons of F1 drivers” to lock out front row
Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen's front-row lockout, is the third instance for sons of former F1 drivers
Kevin Magnussen surprised everyone during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix as the Danish driver took his first pole position in Formula 1 after a stellar lap in changeable conditions. While the current F1 champion, Max Verstappen managed to qualify P2 for the race. This pole position is special for Haas as well as it is the team’s first pole in their history of racing in the championship. However, a fan on Reddit pointed out an interesting fact about the Magnussen-Verstappen front row.
This is only the third time in the history of Formula that two sons of former F1 drivers have qualified 1-2 for a Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen is the son of Jan Magnussen, who was also a McLaren junior driver and even raced for the team in one outing in 1995 before signing with Stewart GP in 1997. Max Verstappen is the son of former Benetton and Arrows driver, Jos Verstappen who was even teammates with Michael Schumacher.
The fan also stated the first time of such an occurrence, which was in 1996 when Damon Hill (son of two time world champion Graham Hill) and Jacques Villeneuve (son of former race-winner Gilles Villeneuve) locked out the front row as teammates for Williams in 1996 at 9 different occasions. The first one was the season opener in Australia. The second driver pair was Nico Rosberg (son of world champion Keke Rosberg) and Verstappen at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.
Why is the Kevin Magnussen-Max Verstappen lockout a big deal?
Formula 1 is one of the most competitive and brutal sports. It takes over a decade of accomplishments in junior racing series before one could hope to land a seat at the pinnacle of motorsport. Getting to F1 is also incredibly expensive, especially in today’s day and age. Without having a wealthy family, a driver must have enough sponsorship money or a team’s support to keep on racing. Then there is the competitiveness of the teams, a driver must be in a team with a car capable of qualifying in the top 2.
And before all of this, to make this stat possible, there must be two drivers, both of whom must have one of their parents to actually have raced in Formula 1. After which the duo must be in F1 at the same time, with cars capable of qualifying at the top. Only then can a pair replicate this feat. Something which is created over decades and two generations’ worth of effort and talent. Hence it may not seem like a rather big achievement, but when we dig deep we must understand it really is a memorable moment in F1’s history.
FS Desk
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