Red Bull Consultant Gino Rosato Calls Jos Verstappen A ‘Pure Thug’ And Hails Max As Best Since Schumacher

Red Bull’s newly appointed consultant Gino Rosato has offered a candid and revealing insight into his personal relationship with both Max Verstappen and his father Jos.
Rosato, speaking on the Pitstop podcast, pulled no punches when describing Jos Verstappen, calling the former F1 driver a ‘pure thug’ and warning people not to cross him.
‘Jos is a pure pure thug. Don’t f*** around with Jos,’ Rosato said, framing the comment not as a criticism but as a mark of respect for the Dutchman’s old-school character.
Rosato began his motorsport career at Ferrari in 1991 as a part-time logistics worker before joining the Scuderia full-time in 1997, becoming a key figure during their most successful years.
He returned to a management role at Ferrari in 2014 and has now taken up a consultancy position at Red Bull, a move that carries significance given his longstanding ties to the Verstappen family.
His connection to Max and Jos traces back through Michael Schumacher, who raced alongside Jos at Benetton in 1994 and maintained a close friendship with the Verstappen family long after their time as teammates ended.
Rosato described Jos’ parenting approach as a direct factor in shaping Max into the dominant force he has become in Formula 1, referencing the senior Verstappen’s notoriously demanding methods on the junior circuit.
‘He’s a pure guy. He’s honest guy. It’s old school. And what are you going to tell him? You did bad. You created the biggest beast on the face of Formula 1 or one of them for sure,’ Rosato said.
Rosato continued: ‘You put s*** in the garden, the flowers grow. And he made a gentleman. He made a great driver but with old work ethics. You hear Jos he would leave Max sometimes on the racetrack racing and all that.’
The consultant argued that the kind of tough love Jos applied to Max’s development represents something that has largely disappeared from modern motorsport and broader sporting culture in general.
‘I think this is what this world has lost a little now. I think when I see people be parents, they’re just babying all the time. You want to be the best? This is what it takes,’ Rosato said.
Rosato also drew a notable comparison between Max Verstappen and former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, highlighting similarities in their off-track personalities and how they interact with people they trust and respect.
‘Max is very extremely similar to Kimi. It’s a bit more spicy, a bit more open minded than he is. Kimi will suffer in silence while this one will lash out once in a while,’ Rosato explained.
He pointed to the accessibility of both Max and Jos as a sign of their straightforward characters, noting that messages to either man receive a quick response regardless of the circumstances or timing involved.
‘I can text Max right now and he’s going to answer me back within two minutes. That’s the same thing with Jos,’ Rosato said, emphasising the genuine nature of the relationship he shares with the pair.
Rosato made clear that his positive assessment of the Verstappens comes from three decades of experience in the sport rather than any commercial or professional incentive to speak favourably about them.
‘I’m not getting paid by anybody to say this, you know, but it is what it is. In 32 years in the business, you’ve seen them all and some get mixed up,’ Rosato noted.
He reserved his highest praise for Max as a racing driver, placing the four-time world champion directly alongside Schumacher as the finest talent the sport has produced in the modern era.
‘After Michael, he’s been the best driver, hands down,’ Rosato stated, rounding off his assessment of Max Verstappen with a comparison that carries enormous weight given his direct experience working with Schumacher at Ferrari.
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