Verstappen’s sister Victoria, who is almost three years younger than him, had the chance to follow her brother, father and kart-racing mother into motor racing. “I think she had a lot of potential,” says Verstappen. F1 has finally woken up to the need to bring more women to reach the top flight of motor racing and formed the F1 Academy to encourage that. But Verstappen said his sister didn’t have the same appetite for racing when they were younger.

“There were a few instances where my dad would spend two days preparing everything like he would do with me, making sure everything was perfect for her to drive. Then she would drive for like 20 laps, and then she’s like ‘that’s it for me for today’. And then my dad would get quite annoyed.”

However Verstappen is convinced that, had his sister wanted to, she could have made a career out of motor racing as well. “I think my sister probably had the same amount of talent as I had when I was little, but she just didn’t want it enough. She liked it but not enough to, like, fight for it, be fit, be ready. That’s fine, as long as you realise that. “My dad was, anyway, mainly focussed on me. But then if you really want it, if you really want to fight for it, even when let’s say your dad is not really focussed on you, if you make him realise, make him see that ‘I want to do this as well’ – I was 100% sure that my dad would have gone all the way for her as well. But my dad didn’t feel it, she didn’t want it enough.”