RaceFans Round-up: Dad told me I’d be a bus driver

In brief

Dad told me I was going to be a bus driver – Verstappen

Verstappen described how his father Jos, a former Formula 1 driver, tried to motivate him to work harder at developing his racing skills.

“My dad never said I was going to be a champion,” Verstappen told Channel 4. “He was always the opposite. He would tell me I was going to be a truck driver or like a bus driver.”

Verstappen said “all the way to Formula 1 I still didn’t work hard enough in his eyes because I have a bit more of a relaxed personality compared to him in terms of how I approach a weekend.

“I was winning my races and stuff, but he said it’s not enough to be successful in Formula 1. I think that prepared me in a way very well for criticism or noise.”

Stop using sprint races to decide grid – Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen says Formula 1 sprint races should be standalone events which do not set the grid for the grand prix.

Speaking ahead of the second sprint race weekend of the season, Magnussen said he had “a good first experience” of the format at Imola but believes the format encourages conservative driving.

“I watched them last year and the big question is whether or not you want to take a risk in the sprint. If you didn’t qualify for your position in the main race during the sprint and instead the qualifying on Friday was your starting position for both the sprint and the main race, then you would be able to go for it in the sprint without having to take risks for your starting position. Maybe that could be a solution to make people go for it a bit more in the sprint.”

Van Amersfoort quits Euroformula Open

Van Amersfoort has withdrawn its team from the Euroformula Open series ahead of the championship’s fifth round in Hungary this weekend.

“It was not an easy decision to make, but we no longer see room for our team, nor for our drivers to further develop towards the goals set for participating in this championship,” said the team’s CEO Rob Niessink. “We want to thank Jesus Pareja from GT Sport, as well as Dallara and HWA’s engine program for their efforts and support over the years.”

The team supplied three of the 10 cars which took part in the championship’s last round at Spa-Francorchamps. Drivex have added a car for local racer Benjamin Berta at this weekend’s round at the Hungaroring.