Max Verstappen reveals a beautiful gesture his mother does before every race

Max Verstappen revealed that his mother lights a candle in the church before every race to pray for his safety. His mother, Sophie Kumpen, shared this clip from Red Bull's social media account, then reaffirmed with another picture of a candle.

The Dutchman has a fair background in racing. His father, Jos Verstappen, raced in F1 for a long time, and his mother also indulged in karting in her early days. Knowing how dangerous motorsports can be, Sophie Kumpen lights a candle in the church before all race weekends.

Speaking to his teammate, Max Verstappen mentioned that she sends him a picture of the lit candle before every race weekend.

"Every race, she sends me, like, she lights a candle in the church," Verstappen said. "Every race. Like, when I go to the pictures with my mom in our phone, every, you see a candle, every week."

"Well, it's like she thinks that it helps for safety," he added.

Sophie Kumpen then posted a picture of a lighted candle in the church, mentioning that she did it every Thursday before a race weekend.

Max Verstappen reveals heartfelt tradition his mom follows before every race weekend (@sophiekumpen on Instagram)

Verstappen has been driving quite safely this season; however, he hasn't been the fastest all around. He's not a strong contender for the World Championship for the first time since 2021; however, the dominating McLaren still considers him to be a threat.

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McLaren still considering Max Verstappen a threat in the championship

McLaren has dominated the 2025 F1 season so far, with Oscar Piastri leading the table. His teammate, Lando Norris, is the only threat to his first championship, with only a 31-point gap dividing the two.

While Max Verstappen is sitting in third place in the championship, he is 94 points away from Piastri. Although this seems to be a difficult gap to fill in the remaining races, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella still considers him to be a threat in the championship.

"Of course, of course," he said (via Motorsport). "We don't have to forget that first of all he's Max Verstappen - world champion for the last four years - in a fast car. Like I said before, there are races where McLaren may not enjoy any advantage from a competitiveness point of view."

Heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next, Verstappen has managed to put himself on pole position for the second consecutive race weekend. This has put some pressure on Piastri, who crashed in Q3 during qualifying, and Norris, who only qualified P7.