Will Buxton shares the heartwarming Max Verstappen moment his late father never forgot

Will Buxton shared a touching story about Max Verstappen’s kindness off track, recalling how the Red Bull driver made an unnecessary but meaningful gesture to Buxton’s late father

Former F1 TV presenter Will Buxton has recounted one of his favourite memories with four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, something that showed the true character of the Red Bull driver away from the race track.

Verstappen's strong character has often shone through in the championship. His matter-of-fact interviews, reluctance to play up to the media and sometimes aggressive driving style have, at times, divided fans. His dominance in recent years had also led to increased boos from crowds before he returned in the second half of the 2025 season as the underdog, where he gained more support.

Buxton reflected on a heartwarming moment with Verstappen and the presenter's late father, which was "just lovely".

"And that's the thing with Max is even as rivals, have to take their hat off and say on his day we just can't do what Max does," Buxton explained on the Up To Speed podcast.

"And DC [David Coulthard], you mentioned it, but he was talked about from the youngest of ages. It almost seemed that he was always going to make it for more. He was always going to be a world champion. But the guy that you meet, the guy that you get to know away from the guy on track is just a lovely guy.

"One of my favourite memories of him, I met him first time back in 2014 when he was just stepping out of karts into single-seaters. When he made his debut in F1, my parents came to the Belgian Grand Prix that year and my dad was quite ill and left us about six months afterwards.

British motorsports journalist Will Buxton at the World Premiere of F1 The Movie

Photo by: Getty Images

"But Max wasn't to know that at all, and it was raining, and so we ran into the Red Bull motorhome to get out of the rain, and Max was there, and he said, ‘Oh, are these your parents?’

"I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, this is my mum, my dad.’ And Max introduced himself and he turned to my dad, and he said, ‘Oh, by the way, Will taught me everything I know because we'd had that day racing together back in 2014.'

"Total rubbish obviously, but a lovely thing and totally unnecessary. He didn't have to say something like that. And my dad just beamed, and he would tell everybody that until he wasn't here anymore. And Max will never know how much that meant, and it was just lovely."