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Jos Verstappen
Jos Verstappen, 2006.jpg
Verstappen in 2006
Born Johannes Franciscus Verstappen
(1972-03-04) 4 March 1972 (age 52)
Montfort, Netherlands
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality  Dutch
Active years 19941998, 20002001, 2003
Teams Benetton, Simtek, Footwork, Tyrrell, Stewart, Arrows and 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
Participating years 2008–2009
Teams Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Aston Martin Racing
Best finish 10th (2008)
Class wins 1 (2008)

Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (pronounced [ˈjɔs vɛrˈstɑpə(n)]; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Benetton, Simtek, Footwork Arrows, Tyrrell, Stewart, and Minardi. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.

In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different teams during eight seasons. From 1994 through 2003, he scored two podium finishes in his career, the first Dutch F1 racer to do so.

Since leaving F1, Verstappen won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races, winning the 24 hours of Le Mans' 2008 LMP2 class.

Verstappen has coached his son Max from an early age in karting, through to Max's successes as an F1 driver becoming the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Formula One Drivers' Champion. Jos has also served as a manager for Max.

Early career

Verstappen began karting at the age of 8, and was participating in national competitions not long after. In 1984 he became Dutch junior champion. He remained successful, and won two European titles.

At the end of 1991 he made the transition to car racing. He drove in Formula Opel Lotus, 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 in Formula Three with Van Amersfoort Racing, who also developed other drivers such as Christijan Albers, Tom Coronel and Bas 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 1993 Marlboro Masters and the German Formula 3 championship.

Formula One

1994: Benetton

Verstappen first drove a Formula One car when he tested for the Footwork Arrows team alongside Gil de Ferran and Christian Fittipaldi at the Estoril circuit in Portugal. The test took place on 28 September 1993, two days after the Portuguese Grand Prix was held at the same circuit. Despite the large increase in power (from a 175 bhp Formula 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 driver Derek 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.

After the test, Verstappen was contacted by every Formula One team except Ferrari and Williams, and was eventually signed as the Benetton team's test driver for the 1994 season.

After a crash in pre-season testing by regular driver JJ Lehto (who broke a vertebra), Verstappen drove in the first two races of the season as a substitute, partnering Michael Schumacher and made his Formula One debut at the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix. During the race he collided with Eddie Irvine, which triggered a multiple accident also involving Éric Bernard and Martin Brundle. Verstappen's car somersaulted, but he emerged unharmed. At the Pacific Grand Prix Verstappen ran 6th but spun off on cold tyres immediately after a pit stop. Lehto was fit for the next race at Imola, but his performances in subsequent races were disappointing and he was rested by Benetton following the Canadian Grand Prix, allowing Verstappen to return to the race seat.

One of the most dramatic incidents affected Verstappen at the German 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 the visor 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.

Jos Verstappen - Benetton 194 at the 1994 British Grand Prix (31697655434)
Verstappen driving the Benetton B194 at the 1994 British Grand Prix.

A high point in this season was Verstappen's third place during the next Grand Prix in Hungary, Schumacher having allowed Verstappen to unlap himself on the final lap to pass Martin Brundle's stricken McLaren-Peugeot. He took another third place at the Belgian Grand Prix due to Schumacher's post-race disqualification from victory, and a fifth place at the Portuguese Grand Prix. A curiosity was his accident during a practice session for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, in which Verstappen rammed his car into the pit wall causing debris to fly up and destroy a TV installation. Due to this accident, this equipment is now protected from the race track by acrylic glass.

For the last two races of the season, Verstappen was replaced by the more experienced Johnny Herbert in a bid to win the Constructors' Championship for Benetton. Although the team was unsuccessful in this aim, losing out to the rival Williams team, Herbert was signed for the 1995 season instead of Verstappen.

1995: Simtek

In 1995 he was loaned to Simtek by Benetton team principal Flavio Briatore. Despite some strong showings (including running 6th at the Argentine 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 the Monaco Grand Prix. Out of a race drive, Verstappen did some test driving with Benetton and Ligier (then part-owned by Briatore and Tom Walkinshaw). Briatore decided against taking up his option for Verstappen in 1996, signing Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger to drive instead.

1996: Footwork Arrows

In 1996 he drove for the Footwork team. He ran fifth at Interlagos before retiring, and finished sixth in Buenos Aires. Shortly after, the team was taken over by Walkinshaw's TWR organisation. During the Belgian Grand Prix a part of the suspension of Verstappen's car broke off, causing him to crash heavily. He ended up with a prolonged neck injury. 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) but the surprise availability of Damon Hill (soon to be crowned World Champion) saw him dropped instead. 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.

1997: Tyrrell

In 1997 he went to the Tyrrell team but did not score any points, though he briefly ran fifth in the Canadian Grand Prix. The team suffered from an underpowered Ford Cosworth EDV V8 engine and a lack of funding leaving Verstappen and teammate Mika Salo struggling towards the rear of the field. Verstappen's best result for the team was eighth at the wet Monaco Grand Prix. Before the 1998 season Tyrrell were sold to British American Tobacco, who intended to rebrand the team as British American Racing in 1999 after one final season under the Tyrrell banner. Ken Tyrrell wanted to retain Verstappen alongside Toranosuke Takagi but BAR insisted on taking pay driver Ricardo Rosset alongside the young Japanese driver. Tyrrell himself left the team in disgust over the matter, leaving Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite to run the team.

1998: Stewart

Jos Verstappen's 1998 Stewart-Ford Stewart SF02 Formula 1 car at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (7400358102)
Verstappen's 1998 Stewart SF02, which he drove for the Stewart Grand Prix team

Out of a regular drive for 1998, Verstappen tested for Benetton once again early in the year, but the team would not hire him as a permanent test driver for lack of sponsors. 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 the French Grand Prix, replacing Jan Magnussen at Stewart. 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 partner Rubens Barrichello for 1999 and Verstappen was left casting around for a drive again.

1999: Honda

Honda RA099 front-left1 Honda Collection Hall
A Honda RA099 which Verstappen test drove.

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 the Honda Formula One project. 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 the Jordan team in case Damon Hill decided to retire before the end of the season but this came to nothing when Verstappen's testing performance was underwhelming and Hill resolved to see out the season.

2000–2001: Return to Arrows

Jos Verstappen 2000 Monza (cropped)
Verstappen testing for the Arrows team at the Monza circuit in 2000.

In 2000 he returned to Arrows, who had put together a package including Supertec engines, a chassis with good straight-line speed and a bevy of sponsors. The car proved to be unreliable, but its speed allowed Verstappen and teammate Pedro 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 at Interlagos he ran 6th before spinning due to a sore neck brought on by his lack of recent seat time. In the wet/dry Canadian Grand Prix, he drove superbly in the later stages to move into 5th position and score his first points since 1996. After the first corner accidents in Austria de la Rosa and Verstappen ran 4th and 5th but mechanical problems sidelined them both. Verstappen would score only once again, a strong 4th place at Monza.

For 2001 he was retained by Arrows. The Supertec engines were replaced by Asiatech units and de la Rosa was dropped on the eve of the season in favour of the Red Bull-backed Enrique Bernoldi. The package was more reliable but less competitive and Verstappen was hurt on occasion by indifferent qualifying form (often lining up behind his rookie teammate on the grid). Highlights of the season included running 2nd at Sepang 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 the A1-Ring. At Interlagos, he ran into the back of leader Juan Pablo Montoya just after being lapped while at Montreal, he moved into the top six but retired with brake failure.

He re-signed to drive for Arrows in 2002, but was dropped at the eleventh hour in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Later that year he almost signed a test contract with Sauber but he turned out to be physically too large for the car, which was smaller than its predecessor.

2003: Minardi

Jos Verstappen - Minardi PS03
Verstappen driving for Minardi at the 2003 British Grand Prix

He returned to the cockpit in 2003 with Paul Stoddart's European Minardi 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 the Canadian Grand Prix, one place away from a point under the new scoring system. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he had been running ahead of eventual winner Giancarlo 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 teammate Justin Wilson. 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.

Out of a drive for 2004 Verstappen was considered as a replacement for Giorgio Pantano at Jordan partway through the season but was unable to fit in the car and began looking for drives outside Formula One for the following season.

Verstappen participated in 107 Grands Prix. He achieved two podium places, and scored a total of 17 championship points (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 the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix.

A1 Grand Prix

A1 Grand Prix Durban 2006
Verstappen driving for A1 Team Netherlands at the A1 Grand Prix in Durban, 2006

After two years of not participating in races, Verstappen was confirmed in July as driver of the A1 Team Netherlands managed by seatholder Jan Lammers's Racing for Holland, for the A1 Grand Prix series. They won the feature race at Durban.

On 27 September 2006, Verstappen split with A1 Team Netherlands after failing to secure payment guarantees. This resulted from Verstappen only being paid for the 2005/06 season a few weeks before the next season started. He was replaced by Jeroen Bleekemolen for the first race of the 2006/07 season at the team's home race at Zandvoort.

Le Mans Series

Van Merksteijn RS Spyder Side
Verstappen driving for Van Merksteijn Motorsport at the 2008 1000km of Silverstone, in which he and teammate Peter van Merksteijn Sr. won the LMP2 class.

In December 2007, Verstappen announced that he would take part in the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans race, as well as enter the 1,000 kilometre races in the Le Mans Series. Driving a LMP2-class Porsche RS Spyder fielded by Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Verstappen was partnered by team owner Peter van Merksteijn Sr. Jeroen Bleekemolen also joined the team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

After winning the 1000km Catalunya and 1000km Spa, and finishing second in the 1000km Monza, Jos Verstappen won the LMP2 class of the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans. With his victory at the 1000km Nurburgring, Verstappen clinched the LMP2 Drivers' title and Van Merksteijn Motorsport won the LMP2 Manufacturers' title.

Verstappen participated in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Lola-Aston Martin.

Personal life

Jos Verstappen in 2014
Verstappen in 2014

In 1996, Verstappen married Belgian ex-kart driver champion Sophie Kumpen, whose cousin is NASCAR Whelen Euro Series racing driver Anthony Kumpen, and whose uncle is former motocross and GT endurance rally driver Paul Kumpen. Verstappen and Sophie have 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 three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Verstappen speaks Dutch, English and German.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
1992 Formula Opel Lotus Benelux 9 8 ? ? ? 160 1st
Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries Van Amersfoort Racing 7 2 2 2 2 59 7th
EFDA Nations Cup Team Netherlands 1 1 ? ? 1 N/A 1st
Formula Opel Lotus Netherlands 1 0 0 ? 1 N/A NC
1993 German Formula Three Opel Team WTS 20 8 6 9 14 269 1st
Formula Pacific 10 3 ? ? 6 185 4th
Masters of Formula 3 Opel Team WTS 1 1 1 0 1 N/A 1st
1994 Formula One Mild Seven Benetton Ford 10 0 0 0 2 10 10th
Test driver
1995 Formula One MTV Simtek Ford 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Mild Seven Benetton Renault Test driver
1996 Formula One Footwork Hart 16 0 0 0 0 1 16th
1997 Formula One PIAA Tyrrell Ford 17 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1998 Formula One HSBC Stewart Ford 9 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1999 Formula One Honda Test driver†
2000 Formula One Arrows F1 Team 17 0 0 0 0 5 12th
2001 Formula One Orange Arrows Asiatech 17 0 0 0 0 1 18th
2003 Formula One European Minardi Cosworth 17 0 0 0 0 0 22nd
Trust Minardi Cosworth
2005–06 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Netherlands 22 1 0 2 2 69 7th
2008 Le Mans Series – LMP2 Van Merksteijn Motorsport 5 4 5 1 5 48 1st
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
2009 24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP1 Aston Martin Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th
2012 2012 City Challenge Baku - Sprint Races V4O 1 0 0 0 0 0 N/A
2012 City Challenge Baku GT 1 0 0 0 0 0 7th
2022 World Rally Championship Jos Verstappen 1 0 N/A N/A 0 0 NC

Verstappen was the test driver for the aborted Honda F1 project.

Complete German Formula Three results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics 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:

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points
1994 Mild Seven Benetton Ford Benetton B194 Ford V8 BRA
Ret
PAC
Ret
SMR MON ESP CAN FRA
Ret
GBR
8
GER
Ret
HUN
3
BEL
3
ITA
Ret
POR
5
EUR
Ret
JPN AUS 10th 10
1995 MTV Simtek Ford Simtek S951 Ford V8 BRA
Ret
ARG
Ret
SMR
Ret
ESP
12
MON
DNS
CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR PAC JPN AUS NC 0
1996 Footwork Hart Footwork FA17 Hart V8 AUS
Ret
BRA
Ret
ARG
6
EUR
Ret
SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
ESP
Ret
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
10
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
8
POR
Ret
JPN
11
16th 1
1997 PIAA Tyrrell Ford Tyrrell 025 Ford V8 AUS
Ret
BRA
15
ARG
Ret
SMR
10
MON
8
ESP
11
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
10
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
AUT
12
LUX
Ret
JPN
13
EUR
16
NC 0
1998 HSBC Stewart Ford Stewart SF02 Ford V10 AUS BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA
12
GBR
Ret
AUT
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
13
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
LUX
13
JPN
Ret
NC 0
2000 Arrows F1 Team Arrows A21 Supertec V10 AUS
Ret
BRA
7
SMR
14
GBR
Ret
ESP
Ret
EUR
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
5
FRA
Ret
AUT
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
13
BEL
15
ITA
4
USA
Ret
JPN
Ret
MAL
10
12th 5
2001 Orange Arrows Asiatech Arrows A22 Asiatech V10 AUS
10
MAL
7
BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
ESP
12
AUT
6
MON
8
CAN
10
EUR
Ret
FRA
13
GBR
10
GER
9
HUN
12
BEL
10
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
JPN
15
18th 1
2003 European Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS03 Cosworth V10 AUS
11
MAL
13
BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
ESP
12
AUT
Ret
22nd 0
Trust Minardi Cosworth MON
Ret
CAN
9
EUR
14
FRA
16
GBR
15
GER
Ret
HUN
12
ITA
Ret
USA
10
JPN
15
Sources:

Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics 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

Complete Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics 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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2008 Netherlands Van Merksteijn Motorsport Netherlands Peter van Merksteijn Sr.
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Porsche RS Spyder Evo LMP2 354 10th 1st
2009 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing United Kingdom Anthony Davidson
United Kingdom Darren Turner
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 342 13th 11th
Source:

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points
2022 Jos Verstappen Citroën C3 Rally2 MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL
60
GRE NZL ESP JPN NC 0

See also

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