Max Verstappen has revealed that he planned to “destroy my room” at the Brazilian Grand Prix before he found his father Jos Verstappen sitting there.

And he explained how his father’s calmness rubbed off on him to deliver one of the all-time great F1 performances just hours later.

Max Verstappen lifts lid on post-qualifying Brazilian GP reset

Verstappen secured a fourth consecutive World Championship in F1 2024, with the Red Bull driver sealing the title with two races to spare in Las Vegas.

It came just weeks after Verstappen ended a 10-race winless run in Brazil, recovering from 17th on the grid to take victory by 19.4 seconds in wet conditions.

Lando Norris, who started from pole position, could only manage sixth at Interlagos as he fell 62 points behind the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen’s victory came after he had appeared set for a significant points loss to Norris in Sao Paulo, having managed only 12th in the delayed and rain-interrupted Sunday morning qualifying session, with a five-place engine penalty leaving him P17 on the starting grid.

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Red Bull and Verstappen were angered by the timing of the red flag for Lance Stroll’s crash in Q2, with the 27-year-old describing the delay to neutralise the session as “bulls**t.”

Appearing on Red Bull’s in-house Talking Bull podcast, Verstappen has revealed he was ready to wreck his private room inside Red Bull’s hospitality unit at Interlagos before finding his father Jos there.

And he explained that his father’s calmness over the situation rubbed off on him, allowing him to refocus ahead of the race.

Verstappen said: “I wanted to destroy my room, but then I walked into my room and my dad was sitting there.”

Asked if his father had already destroyed the room on his behalf, Verstappen added: “No, he was the calm one. He was very calm.

“I was so angry and then I see him so calm, that actually calmed me down.”

The delay to issue the red flag during Brazil GP qualifying came less than 24 hours after the Virtual Safety Car had not been deployed until Norris and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri traded places during Saturday’s sprint race at Interlagos.

Verstappen was also hit with two 10-second penalties for separate incidents with Norris at the Mexican GP a week earlier.

Speaking after his son’s victory in Brazil, Mr Verstappen claimed the Red Bull driver’s performance had been inspired by the criticism he had received in the aftermath of the race in Mexico.

He told Sky Germany: “He showed who is the best today.

“And I also believe he was very motivated after the negative journalists from England and the negative drivers.

“But today he showed who is the best. They think they are taking him out of his good mood, but he will only get better because of it.

“I’m very proud of what he showed today. I think the whole world saw who is the very best.”

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