What Max Verstappen did as a child for the ‘natural talent’ to become so good in the rain

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Max Verstappen is on the verge of his fourth world championship after taking a superb victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The Dutchman won from 17th on the grid after getting knocked out in Q2 and taking a five-place grid penalty for an engine change.

Verstappen picked his way through the field in the rain at Interlagos and was the only driver making significant progress.

He made up 10 places in the first 10 laps of the race to recover after his bad qualifying and put pressure on his nearest title rival Lando Norris.

Verstappen has been immensely competitive in the rain since he made his F1 debut. He went from 16th to third in the closing stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2016.

It is a key skill as driving in the rain requires a lot of confidence and a deft touch on the brake pedal while understanding where the grip is on the track.

Jos Verstappen explained to F1-insider that his son’s prowess in the rain is down to more than just natural skill.

Jos Verstappen explained that Max Verstappen drove ‘in the rain often with slick tyres’ in karting

Verstappen was the class of the field during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and won the race ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon by 19 seconds while the Frenchman’s teammate Pierre Gasly crossed the line in third.

Verstappen was considerably quicker than the rest of the field after the red flag, when he changed tyres without losing time as the race had been stopped.

During the 69-lap race, the race winner made very few errors while Lewis Hamilton had a difficult day, and Norris missed out on an opportunity to close the gap in the championship.

Norris may have been lucky not to get penalised for an infringement before the start in Brazil, before he then lost the lead off the line. The McLaren driver also made a mistake at the Senna-S after the Safety Car restart, which dropped him out of contention for the victory.

READ MORE: Brazilian fans sang ‘special’ driver’s name when Lance Stroll crashed at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Verstappen kept his car on the track and benefitted from many laps in go-karts in the rain to sharpen his car control.

The three-time world champion’s dad explained his time driving in the rain and snow in karting has contributed to Verstappen’s driving talent.

Jos Verstappen said: “Of course, Max is a natural talent. But there is also hard work behind his success. Even in our karting days, we drove in the rain often with slick tyres, even in the snow.

“That’s where you learn how a racing car reacts under extreme conditions, including a Formula 1 car. Because at some point it becomes second nature to you.”

Max Verstappen can win the world championship next time out in Las Vegas

After Verstappen’s superb drive in Brazil, he is on the verge of his fourth consecutive world title. If the Dutchman were to win the championship, he would become just the fifth driver to win to win four titles in a row.

The Red Bull driver can take the title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix if he finishes ahead of Norris at the third of three races in America.

The Austrian team haven’t had the quickest car for much of the season and Verstappen’s win in Brazil was his first since Spain at the end of June.