Jos Verstappen | |
|---|---|
 Verstappen at the2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa | |
| Born | Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (1972-03-04)4 March 1972 (age 53) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5, includingMax |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Dutch |
| Active years | 1994–1998,2000–2001,2003 |
| Teams | Benetton,Simtek,Footwork,Tyrrell,Stewart,Arrows,Minardi |
| Entries | 107 (106 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Career points | 17 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2003 Japanese Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2008–2009 |
| Teams | Van Merksteijn,Aston Martin |
| Best finish | 10th(2008) |
| Class wins | 1(2008) |
Johannes Franciscus "Jos"Verstappen (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈjɔsfɛrˈstɑpə(n)]; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch formerracing driver, who competed inFormula One between1994 and2003.[a]
Born and raised inDutch Limburg, Verstappen began competitivekart racing aged eight. After a successful karting career—culminating in two direct-driveKarting European Championships in 1989—Verstappen graduated tojunior formulae. He started his career in Formula Opel Lotus, winning theBenelux Championship in 1992. Later that year, he also won theEFDA Nations Cup, representing the Netherlands. Progressing toGerman Formula Three in1993, Verstappen won the title in his rookie season withOpel, further winning theMasters of Formula 3.
Signing forBenetton as a test driver in1994, Verstappen made his Formula One debut at theBrazilian Grand Prix, replacing the injuredJJ Lehto to partnerMichael Schumacher for the opening two rounds of the season. Verstappen formally replaced Lehto after theCanadian Grand Prix, scoring two podiums in his rookie season before being replaced byJohnny Herbert inJapan. His podium inHungary made him thefirst Dutch driver to score a podium finish in Formula One. Verstappen competed forSimtek in1995 before the team wentbankrupt five rounds into the season, returning to his test driver role with Benetton. He became a full-time driver forFootwork in1996. Afternon-classified championship finishes in1997 and1998 withTyrrell andStewart, respectively, Verstappen became a test driver for theHonda project in1999. He returned to a race seat withArrows in2000, competing with them for a further two seasons. After a year hiatus, Verstappen completed his final Formula One season withMinardi in2003.
Following his departure, Verstappen moved toA1 Grand Prix with theNetherlands for the2005–06 season, achieving his sole victory in theSouth Africa feature race. He then competed insportscar racing in 2008, winning both the24 Hours of Le Mans and theLe Mans Series in theLMP2 class withVan Merksteijn. Inrallying, he contested the2022 Ypres Rally as an independent entrant. Since 2002, Verstappen has coached and managed his sonMax from karting at an early age to winning fourFormula One World Drivers' Championship titles. Max's successes in the sport have renewed public scrutiny of Verstappen, who has facedseveral allegations of assault spanning two decades.
Verstappen begankarting at the age of 8,[1] and was participating in national competitions not long after. In 1984 he became Dutch junior champion. Verstappen remained successful, becoming a two-classKarting European Champion in 1989,[1] a feat that remained unmatched until his sonMax in 2013.
At the end of 1991 he made the transition to car racing.[2] He drove in Formula Opel Lotus,[1] a class in which identical cars compete against each other. He won the European championship in his first year, and got an offer to drive inFormula Three with Van Amersfoort Racing, who also developed other drivers such asChristijan Albers,Tom Coronel andBas Leinders. During that European winter season, he raced in New Zealand Formula Atlantic. Subsequently, in German Formula Three, he won several international competitions, including the 1993Marlboro Masters[1] and theGerman Formula 3 championship.[1]
Verstappen first drove aFormula One car when he tested for theFootwork Arrows team alongsideGil de Ferran andChristian Fittipaldi at theEstoril circuit in Portugal. The test took place on 28 September 1993, two days after thePortuguese Grand Prix was held at the same circuit. Despite the large increase in power (from a 175 bhpFormula Three car to the 750 bhp of Formula One), Verstappen set a time that would have qualified him in the preceding race on his fourth timed lap, and improved his time by more than a second after 65 laps. His best lap time of the day was 1:14.45, which was only 0.07 seconds slower than regular driverDerek Warwick had lapped during qualifying, and would have placed him tenth on the grid. He tested again on September 30 and was lapping near his existing record after five laps, but then crashed the car, ending the test early.[3]
After the test, Verstappen was contacted by every Formula One team exceptFerrari andWilliams, and was eventually signed as theBenetton team's test driver for the1994 season.[4]
After a crash in pre-season testing by regular driverJJ Lehto (who broke avertebra), Verstappen drove in the first two races of the season as a substitute, partneringMichael Schumacher and made his Formula One debut at the1994 Brazilian Grand Prix.[1] During the race he collided withEddie Irvine, which triggered a multiple accident also involvingÉric Bernard andMartin Brundle. Verstappen's car somersaulted, but he emerged unharmed.[1] At thePacific Grand Prix Verstappen ran 6th but spun off on cold tyres immediately after a pit stop.[1] Lehto was fit for the next race atImola, but his performances in subsequent races were disappointing and he was rested by Benetton following theCanadian Grand Prix, allowing Verstappen to return to the race seat.[1]
One of the most dramatic incidents affected Verstappen at theGerman Grand Prix. During his first scheduled pitstop during the race, fuel leaked onto the car after the fuel hose was disconnected. The car, with Verstappen in it, was engulfed in flames for several seconds. As was usual at the time, Verstappen had slightly opened thevisor of his helmet for the pit stop, but apart from slight burns to his nose, he was uninjured. After this incident the fuel delivery hose was modified to incorporate a fail-safe cut-out system.[5]
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A high point in this season was Verstappen's third place during the next Grand Prix inHungary, Schumacher having allowed Verstappen to unlap himself on the final lap to passMartin Brundle's strickenMcLaren-Peugeot. He took another third place at theBelgian Grand Prix due to Schumacher's post-race disqualification from victory, and a fifth place at thePortuguese Grand Prix. A curiosity was his accident during a practice session for theFrench Grand Prix atMagny-Cours, in which Verstappen rammed his car into thepit wall causing debris to fly up and destroy a TV installation. Due to this accident, this equipment is now protected from the race track byacrylic glass.[6]
For the last two races of the season, Verstappen was replaced by the more experiencedJohnny Herbert in a bid to win the Constructors' Championship for Benetton. Although the team was unsuccessful in this aim, losing out to the rivalWilliams team,[7] Herbert was signed for the 1995 season instead of Verstappen.[1]
In1995 he was loaned toSimtek[1] by Benetton team principalFlavio Briatore. Despite some strong showings (including running 6th at theArgentine Grand Prix before a poor pit stop and subsequent gearbox failure) Verstappen only finished once in the five races he drove for the team due to technical difficulties. The team had deep financial troubles and went bankrupt after theMonaco Grand Prix.[1] Out of a race drive, Verstappen did some test driving with Benetton andLigier[8] (then part-owned by Briatore andTom Walkinshaw).[9] Briatore decided against taking up his option for Verstappen in 1996, signingJean Alesi andGerhard Berger to drive instead.[9]
In1996 he drove for theFootwork team.[1] He ran fifth atInterlagos before retiring, and finished sixth inBuenos Aires.[1] Shortly after, the team was taken over by Walkinshaw'sTWR organisation.[1] During theBelgian Grand Prix a part of thesuspension of Verstappen's car broke off, causing him to crash heavily.[1] He ended up with a prolonged neck injury.[8] Initially Verstappen featured strongly in Walkinshaw's plans for 1997 (the new owner at one point threatening to replace him with a pay driver unless he signed for another season)[10] but the surprise availability ofDamon Hill (soon to be crowned World Champion) saw him dropped instead.[1] His form in the second half of the season dropped off as development on the 1996 car ground to a standstill, TWR Arrows focusing instead on 1997.[1]
In1997 he went to theTyrrell team[1] but did not score any points, though he briefly ran fifth in theCanadian Grand Prix.[1] The team suffered from an underpoweredFordCosworth EDV V8 engine and a lack of funding leaving Verstappen and teammateMika Salo struggling towards the rear of the field.[1] Verstappen's best result for the team was eighth at the wetMonaco Grand Prix.[1] Before the 1998 season Tyrrell were sold toBritish American Tobacco,[1] who intended to rebrand the team asBritish American Racing in 1999 after one final season under the Tyrrell banner.Ken Tyrrell wanted to retain Verstappen alongsideToranosuke Takagi but BAR insisted on taking pay driverRicardo Rosset alongside the young Japanese driver.[1] Tyrrell himself left the team in disgust over the matter, leaving Dr.Harvey Postlethwaite to run the team.[1]
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Out of a regular drive for 1998, Verstappen tested for Benetton once again early in the year,[1] but the team would not hire him as a permanent test driver for lack ofsponsors. As an experienced, fast free agent Verstappen was a common name mentioned in pit lane gossip as a replacement for underperforming drivers. He would eventually return to the series at theFrench Grand Prix, replacingJan Magnussen atStewart.[1] However, the car was uncompetitive, the team struggled to run two cars to the same level and Verstappen did not perform significantly better than his predecessor.Johnny Herbert was signed to partnerRubens Barrichello for1999[1] and Verstappen was left casting around for a drive again.[1]
However, for once it looked like things were going in the right direction for Verstappen. Near the end of 1998 he became the test driver for theHonda Formula One project.[1] He teamed up with old Tyrrell friends Rupert Manwaring and Harvey Postlethwaite, planning to test the new car in 1999 and join the series in 2000. All went well for the operation, with the testing hack showing well against upper-midfield teams such as Benetton and Williams in various test sessions until Postlethwaite died of a heart attack. Not long after, Honda changed their plans from becoming a team to a works engine supplier and Verstappen was again without a Formula One seat. He tested for theJordan team in case Damon Hill decided to retire before the end of the season[1] but this came to nothing when Verstappen's testing performance was underwhelming and Hill resolved to see out the season.[1]
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In2000 he returned toArrows,[1] who had put together a package includingSupertec engines, a chassis with good straight-line speed and a bevy of sponsors. The car proved to be unreliable,[1] but its speed allowed Verstappen and teammatePedro de la Rosa to dice with the front runners at several circuits. The design's small fuel tank meant the cars were often lighter than their rivals. In his second race back atInterlagos he ran 6th before spinning due to a sore neck brought on by his lack of recent seat time. In the wet/dryCanadian Grand Prix,[1] he drove superbly in the later stages to move into 5th position[1] and score his first points since 1996.[11] After the first corner accidents inAustria de la Rosa and Verstappen ran 4th and 5th but mechanical problems sidelined them both.[12] Verstappen would score only once again, a strong 4th place atMonza.[13]
For 2001 he was retained by Arrows.[14] The Supertec engines were replaced byAsiatech units and de la Rosa was dropped on the eve of the season for theRed Bull-backedEnrique Bernoldi.[14] The package was more reliable and competitive on average beating Verstappen in qualifying on pace (often lining up behind his rookie teammate on the grid). Verstappen was hurt on occasion by indifferent qualifying form.[15] Highlights of the season included running 2nd atSepang having started 18th, making a superb start and running well in changing conditions before dropping to 7th and later scoring the team's only point of the year for 6th at theA1-Ring.[14] AtInterlagos, he ran into the back of leaderJuan Pablo Montoya just after being lapped[16] while atMontreal, he moved into the top six but retired with brake failure.[17]
He re-signed to drive for Arrows in 2002, but was dropped at the eleventh hour in favour ofHeinz-Harald Frentzen.[14] Later that year he almost signed a test contract withSauber but he turned out to be physically too large for thecar, which was smaller than its predecessor.[18]
He returned to the cockpit in 2003 withPaul Stoddart's EuropeanMinardi team, considered the tail enders of the grid. With limited funds and underpowered engines it was a difficult season with little opportunity to shine. His best result was 9th at theCanadian Grand Prix, one place away from a point under the new scoring system. At theBrazilian Grand Prix, he had been running ahead of eventual winnerGiancarlo Fisichella on the same strategy only to spin off on standing water, but generally the year was one to forget – and many noted that Verstappen was largely outperformed by rookie teammateJustin Wilson. At the French Grand Prix, Verstappen recorded his and Minardi's only provisional pole position in the first qualifying session by running last on a rapidly-drying track; in the second, dry qualifying session, Verstappen qualified on the team's usual back row. Saturday qualifying, due to wet weather At the end of the year he left the Italian team because he did not feel like driving in the rear-guard for another year.[19]
Out of a drive for 2004 Verstappen was considered as a replacement forGiorgio Pantano atJordan partway through the season but was unable to fit in the car[20] and began looking for drives outside Formula One for the following season.[21]
Verstappen participated in 107 Grands Prix.[22] He achieved two podium places,[22] and scored a total of 17 championship points[22] (117 in the modern system) which makes him the second best performing Dutch driver in Formula One to date, beaten only by his son, Max. Jos Verstappen's highest qualifying position was 6th, at the1994 Belgian Grand Prix.[22]
After two years of not participating in races, Verstappen was confirmed in July as driver of theA1 Team Netherlands[23] managed by seatholderJan Lammers'sRacing for Holland, for theA1 Grand Prix series. They won the feature race at Durban.[23]
On 27 September 2006, Verstappen split with A1 Team Netherlands after failing to secure payment guarantees.[24] This resulted from Verstappen only being paid for the 2005/06 season a few weeks before the next season started.[25] He was replaced byJeroen Bleekemolen for the first race of the 2006/07 season at the team's home race atZandvoort.[26]
In December 2007, Verstappen announced that he would take part in the2008 24 Hours of Le Mans race, as well as enter the 1,000 kilometre races in theLe Mans Series.[27] Driving aLMP2-classPorsche RS Spyder fielded byVan Merksteijn Motorsport, Verstappen was partnered by team ownerPeter van Merksteijn Sr.Jeroen Bleekemolen also joined the team for the24 Hours of Le Mans race.[27]
After winning the1000km Catalunya and1000km Spa, and finishing second in the1000km Monza, Jos Verstappen won the LMP2 class of the2008 24 Hours of Le Mans. With his victory at the1000km Nurburgring, Verstappen clinched the LMP2 Drivers' title andVan Merksteijn Motorsport won the LMP2 Manufacturers' title.[28]
Verstappen participated in the2009 24 Hours of Le Mans in aLola-Aston Martin.[29]
Verstappen speaks Dutch, English and German.
In 1996,[30] Verstappen marriedBelgian ex-kart driver champion[31]Sophie Kumpen, whose cousin isNASCARWhelen Euro Series racing driverAnthony Kumpen, and whose uncle is formermotocross andGT endurancerally driver Paul Kumpen. Verstappen and Sophie had two children,Max (b. 1997) and Victoria (b. 1999). He has a second daughter, Blue Jaye (b. 2014), with his second wife Kelly van der Waal. He also has a second son, Jason Jaxx (b. 2019) and third daughter Mila Faye (b. 2020), with his third wife Sandy Sijtsma. Both Max and Victoria have gone on to become racing drivers, with Max becoming a four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, in2021,2022,2023, and2024.[32][33]
Starting in 2002, Verstappen coached and managed Max in kart racing at an early age. Jos' parenting of his son has been described by some in Formula One as either "tough love" orchild abuse. Some of them allege Jos physically beat Max multiple times, once at a kart race to punish him for not performing better. Contrarily, Jos says he made his son's kart perform worse and told him false rules about races because Max was "winning so easily". Jos also says he made Max drive karts when Max was unable to, such as when it was freezing cold once: “he couldn’t move his fingers [to drive] and I didn’t care." [...] "When the fingers warm up again that’s very painful. I said, 'Ah, shut up.'" Max says that in 2012, when they both competed in a kart race, Max crashed and damaged his own kart while attempting to overtake his father; while Jos drove him home, Jos abandoned him at a fuel station and drove on for some time before returning to retrieve him. Once home, Jos did not speak to him for a week. Jos has denied that he abused Max, who, journalist Erik van Haren reports, publicly has a good relationship with his father.[34][35][36][37]
When Max Verstappen was teammates withDaniel Ricciardo atRed Bull Racing, the team released a promo video of the two having a conversation. In it, Ricciardo playfully made a stabbing motion at a table, to which Max responded, "My dad did that once [to] a mechanic with a fork".The Sunday Times writes that Ricciardo's surprised reaction suggests Max was serious.[34][38]
After a 1998 incident at a karting track in which a man suffered a fractured skull, Verstappen and his father, Frans, were found guilty in court ofassault but were each given a five-year suspended jail sentence after reaching anout-of-court settlement with the victim.[39]
In December 2008, after Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen were effectively separated, he appeared in court inTongeren,Belgium, charged withassaulting her.[40] He was found not guilty of assault, but guilty of threatening her in text messages and of violating a previously issuedrestraining order. He was fined and sentenced to three monthsprobational, suspended prison sentence.[41] In January 2009, Verstappen again had to appear in court and was convicted to a three months suspended prison sentence and a 1650 Euro fine for sending Kumpen threats and visiting her house despite the restraining order.[42]
On 29 November 2011, the media reported allegations that Verstappen had assaulted an unnamed 24 year old girlfriend in a hotel room in the Dutch city ofVenlo; Verstappen claimed to only have had a discussion with her.[43] In January 2012, he was arrested on attempted murder charges following accusations that he drove a car into his ex-girlfriend inRoermond - who was taken by ambulance to hospital with heavy bruises and abrasions. Verstappen was previously accused of beating his girlfriend.[44] "It's definitely not the first time he does this," the unnamed woman told RTL television. "I think now I need to go and hide -- I don't know what to expect now when he is released."[45] but released two weeks later after the charge was withdrawn.[46] Verstappen was also accused of destroying two cell phones, jewellery and the handbag of his girlfriend, and he faced two weeks of imprisonment and 20 hours of community work service. Verstappen's lawyer Geert Jan Knoops said his client was relieved and he hopes this will be the definitive end of the court case. According to Dutch sources, Verstappen and his girlfriend are back together again. He and his ex-girlfriend, Kelly van der Waal, got back together and were married in 2014. They have one daughter, Blue Jaye, born in September 2014.[47] They divorced on 2 June 2017.[48]
On 28 July 2016, it was reported that Verstappen physically attacked his own father, Dutchman Frans Verstappen in his hometown of Montford. According to the official report, it happened shortly after the2016 Hungarian Grand Prix De Telegraaf, a large Dutch media group, said Frans Verstappen filed a complaint with the police. “We’ve seen before that Jos has loose hands but this was the limit,” Frans, showing multiple wounds and bruises on his body and head, is quoted as saying. “Jos is very bad tempered.” Manager Raymond Vermeulen said the incident was a “private matter”. Later, Limburg broadcaster L1 reported that Frans had withdrawn the complaint, with him stating, “It’s just a private matter between myself and Jos. I want to keep it between ourselves.”[49]
 |
† Verstappen was the test driver for the aborted Honda F1 project.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Opel Team WTS | Opel | ZOL 1 3 | ZOL 2 Ret | HOC 1 5 | HOC 2 4 | NÜR 1 2 | NÜR 2 2 | WUN 1 1 | WUN 2 1 | NOR 1 1 | NOR 2 1 | DIE 1 2 | DIE 2 Ret | NÜR 1 2 | NÜR 2 1 | SIN 1 2 | SIN 2 1 | AVU 1 1 | AVU 2 1 | HOC 1 7 | HOC 2 11 | 1st | 269 |
| Sources:[51] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
(Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Netherlands | GBR SPR Ret | GBR FEA 7 | GER SPR Ret | GER FEA 7 | POR SPR 4 | POR FEA Ret | AUS SPR 7 | AUS FEA 4 | MYS SPR 5 | MYS FEA 16 | UAE SPR 11 | UAE FEA 9 | RSA SPR 16 | RSA FEA 1 | IDN SPR 7 | IDN FEA 6 | MEX SPR 4 | MEX FEA 2 | USA SPR 14 | USA FEA Ret | CHN SPR Ret | CHN FEA 17 | 7th | 69 | [54] |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Van Merksteijn Motorsport | LMP2 | Porsche RS Spyder Evo | Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 | CAT 1 | MNZ 2 | SPA 1 | NÜR 1 | SIL 1 | 1st | 48 |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Van Merksteijn Motorsport | Peter van Merksteijn Sr.Jeroen Bleekemolen | Porsche RS Spyder Evo | LMP2 | 354 | 10th | 1st |
| 2009 |  Aston Martin Racing | Anthony DavidsonDarren Turner | Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 | LMP1 | 342 | 13th | 11th |
Source:[56] | |||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Masters of Formula 3 Winner 1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | German Formula Three champion 1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Founders | |
|---|---|
| Drivers | |
| Formula One cars | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
