Jos Verstappen

Verstappen began karting at the age of eight, and was participating in national competitions not long after. In 1984, he became Dutch junior champion. Verstappen remained successful, becoming a two-class Karting European Champion in 1989, 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. 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. (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. but the surprise availability of Damon Hill (soon to be crowned World Champion) saw him dropped instead. 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 fourth place at Monza. For 2001, Verstappen was retained by Arrows. The Supertec engines were replaced by Asiatech units and de la Rosa was dropped on the eve of the season for the Red Bull-backed Enrique Bernoldi. Highlights of the season included running second at Sepang having started 18th, making a superb start and running well in changing conditions before dropping to seventh and later scoring the team's only point of the year for sixth at the A1-Ring. while at Montreal, he moved into the top six but retired with brake failure. Verstappen re-signed to drive for Arrows in 2002, but was dropped at the eleventh hour in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. 2003: Minardi at the 2003 British Grand Prix Verstappen 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 ninth 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 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. 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. His highest qualifying position was sixth, at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. == A1 Grand Prix ==

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. 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 ==

at the 2008 1000km of Silverstone, in which he and teammate Peter van Merksteijn Sr. won the LMP2 class.|left 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. Verstappen participated in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Lola-Aston Martin. ==Personal life==

Verstappen speaks Dutch, English and German. 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, endurance, and rally 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 and current 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, in 2021, 2022, , and . 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" or child 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 has stated that in 2012, during a kart race, Max crashed and damaged his kart while attempting to overtake; 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. When Max Verstappen was teammates with Daniel Ricciardo at Red 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. ==Legal issues==

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 of assault but were each given a five-year suspended jail sentence after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the victim. In December 2008, after Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen were effectively separated, he appeared in court in Tongeren, Belgium, charged with assaulting her. He was found not guilty of assault, but guilty of threatening her in text messages and of violating a previously issued restraining order. He was fined and sentenced to three months probational, suspended prison sentence. 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. 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 of Venlo; Verstappen claimed to only have had a discussion with her. In January 2012, he was arrested on attempted murder charges following accusations that he drove a car into his ex-girlfriend in Roermond - who was taken by ambulance to hospital with heavy bruises and abrasions. Verstappen was previously accused of beating his girlfriend. "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." but released two weeks later after the charge was withdrawn. 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. They divorced on 2 June 2017. 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 occurred shortly after the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix. De Telegraaf, a large Dutch media group, stated that 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.” ==Racing record==

Racing career summary † 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) Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † 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) Complete Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) 24 Hours of Le Mans results ==See also==