Four-year-old boy branded ‘next Max Verstappen’ after taking mum's car for joyride

Police in the Netherlands said that the young boy took his mother’s car keys and went for a drive after his father went to work.

The young boy was found when they responded to a report of a child found walking alone and barefoot.

“Yesterday we were sent at the end of the night shift to a report in Overvecht,” Dutch police shared on Instagram.

“Already there (was) a four-year-old child walking barefoot and in his pyjamas on the street. The child was found by a bystander and placed in the car. The bystander thought that the child might be hypothermic and immediately called 911.”

“Based on this information, colleagues rushed to the scene and took care of the reporter and the child.”

Medics examined the young boy and gave him a teddy bear before he was taken to the police station and given hot chocolate.

“There was no trace of the parents at that time. We then took the baby to the police station to find out where he came from,” police said.

Later in the day, they responded to reports of an abandoned car that appeared to have crashed into two other cars.

It was found that the car was registered to the young boy’s mother who was contacted and spoke to the child over the phone.

“During the conversation he appeared to mimic driving and pretended to turn a steering wheel. She said that her child is very enterprising,” police explained.

“She spoke to the child on the telephone and then we saw that he made a collision with his hands and made a steering movement. This gave us the suspicion that the child might have been driving. Together with the mother and the child we then walked to the vehicle.”

Once reunited with his mother, the pair went to the crash scene where the boy was asked if he knew how the car worked.

Police said he opened the car and put the key in the ignition and moved his feet to the pedals.

“The child opened the car with the key and put the key in the ignition. He started the car, moved his left foot to the clutch and hit the gas.”

“So what appeared to have happened. When the child's father went to work, the child woke up and grabbed the car key to go for a drive. The two parked cars were hit,” they said.

“The child then got out and ran away in his pyjamas. Fortunately, this mini driver's adventure has come to an end with a sizzle.”