Max Verstappen is currently fast on his way to his third world title in Formula 1. Already 45 times the Dutch national anthem was played after a Grand Prix, bea=cause of Verstappen. Although he could also have chosen to let the orchestra play the Belgian national anthem almost every race weekend.

Max Verstappen was born on 30 September 1997 in Hasselt, Belgium, about 26 kilometres from the Dutch city Maastricht. He is the son of Dutch Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen and Belgian former driver Sophie Kumpen. As father Jos and mother Sophie were married at the time of his birth, Verstappen grew up with dual nationality.

No Dutch passport

In 2015, mother Sophie dropped a minor bombshell about the Formula 1 driver's nationality, stating in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws that he only held a Belgian travel document at the time. Not much later, Jos a column in De Telegraaf:"Everyone wants a piece of Max at the moment. On the one hand, that's a nice compliment for him.... I can well understand that many people are proud. Of course I am too. But on some points I do struggle with it," he wrote.

Verstappen senior was disappointed with the attitude of the Belgian media:"So all of a sudden Max becomes a Belgian in their eyes. I find that a bit lame. We have been racing for years, but until a few months ago he was hardly written about in Belgium and now suddenly they claim he is theirs. I absolutely don't see it that way myself."

Verstappen 'chose' the Netherlands

"The situation is that Max has both nationalities, because Sophie and I were married when he was born. But since he races under a Dutch licence, he is a bit more Dutch than Belgian. He feels that way himself. If the Netherlands has to play football against Belgium, he supports the Dutch. And when he is eighteen and has to choose, it will be for Dutch nationality."

And so it happened. When the Red Bull driver turned 18, he decided not only to race with a Dutch racing licence, but also to apply for a Dutch passport. During a media interview with NU.nl and others last year, he said,"I chose the Netherlands, also because of my father. In the end, I am happy to have two nationalities." He also said he could live with the doubts expressed by others:"That's up to them. I know that in the end I am both, since the day I was born."