Jos Verstappen explains why he didn't come to congratulate Max

"I wasn't feeling so well," Verstappen-senior explained to the Swedish streaming service. "I have a little flu and then I don't want to be around Max either, for fear that I will pass it to him. Besides that, of course, you also have the time difference. I also have another race myself this weekend, so I have to prepare a bit for that," Jos concluded.

Jos Verstappen reacts to Max's fourth world title

Jos Verstappen wasn't always certain his son would win. "Of course he had a certain lead (in the drivers' championship). Whether he would keep that up of course depended on the development of his car. I wasn't always sure about that myself. But what Max eventually showed and the races he drove, especially Brazil... that is really unprecedented and that did ensure that he managed to pull it over the line," Jos concluded.

In the end, Verstappen secured the title in Las Vegas. For Jos, it is something he could only dream of beforehand: "In the end, it worked out. Not in the way you would like, I guess. But the important thing is that it works out then. When you are in karting, it is so difficult to make that step to Formula 1. You then hope that one day you can win a race. Then when you now consider that you end up winning four championships... we never dared to dream about that."

Jos isn't sure Verstappen can win the World Championship next season. "I mean, they're not driving the fastest car at the moment. Otherwise he would be winning races. So things have to happen for them to be competitive again. And it does show again how well Max deals with that. And how strong he is," Jos concluded.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton