Verstappen has respect for father Jos: 'That's a bit more dangerous'

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz shared the podium in Japan today. You would almost forget, but the fathers of the former Toro Rosso teammates are also still active in racing. After the race in Japan, the two shared their opinions on their fathers' pursuits.

Verstappen, Sainz and Perez joke about rally driving

Both Jos Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Sr. are active in rally racing. Sainz Jr. says he sees risk in his father's pursuits: "Yes, I, personally, feel the danger more for my dad than I feel it for me. Most of it is he's 62 and he's taken so many risks in his life already that I keep telling him, “Why do you keep going and going and going?” when he could be at home playing golf with me or spending time with my mum? And yes, he keeps wanting to do this Dakar and these two or three rallies per year and there's no chance we're convincing him of otherwise."

Verstappen thinks, however, that Sainz Jr.'s mother might not mind Sainz Sr. racing so much: "Maybe your mum is happy that he goes. She has a bit of free time." Sergio Perez also jokes along: "Your mum is like, yes, keep racing. Don't stop. You can't stop."

The three then joke about the so-called pace notes, a method in which the rally route is accurately described to drive it in the utmost detail. Verstappen jokes: "My dad normally likes to blame it on the pace notes. But yes, no, I mean, rallying, I have a lot of respect for the people that do the rallying. I mean, it's really impressive. Yeah, I think that is, for me personally, because of the trees and stuff, you know. Here, we are on a track normally with walls and stuff designed, you know, to have to withstand an impact and stuff. It really normally doesn't really move. So, yeah, I think rallying is a bit more dangerous."

Perez, however, thinks his father does the most dangerous work. "Don't worry. My dad is into politicians [politics], so... He's more in danger. Don’t be concerned guys," the Mexican concluded.