Jos Verstappen opens up in frank interview

Published on 22 March 2014 by Niels Hendrix

In a weekly column for Dutch national newspaper, De Telegraaf, Bram Moszkowicz interviews well-known Dutch people. This week, he talks with Jos Verstappen. Topic of conversation are prejudices and preconceived notions of Moszkowicz and the Dutch towards the interviewee.

Jos Verstappen should have accomplished more in his Formula 1 career.
"My granddad owned a scrapyard where I spend day and night riding my motor-cross bike and working on my own old car. I would tinker with all kinds of stuff, rebuild bikes, weld, you name it. I started to race at an early race. First in karts and then the big step into motor racing. I didn’t know anyone until I met Huub Rothengatter, who introduced me to the race world. If you go fast and posses talent, all the opportunities will just pop up. When I was nineteen I drove my first laps on the Zandvoort track in an old 1978 Formula Ford, which Huub managed to acquire.

Two-and-a-half years later I had my first go in Formula 1. Perhaps it all went too fast. You think you've achieved the dream, but that is really the moment the journey starts. The next goal was to win races, but I never managed to do so. I was too inexperienced and I was part of a top team to early. I should have started in a mid-table outfit, learn the trade and then progress to a top team. I straight away entered Formula 1 as Michael Schumacher's team mate. In my opinion, he is the best, while I arrived as an inexperienced rookie. Therefore I made plenty of mistakes and I often failed to see the chequered flag.

I did become good friends with Michael. We flew with his plane to the Grand Prix and we went on holiday together. But as soon as he got to the track, he changed. Quite strange actually. He became very distant, a completely different person. I sometimes wondered if he was the same guy I had a drink with the day before. I always stay the same.
After I retired we stayed in touch for a little while, but we lost touch eventually. Two years ago, I saw him at one of the kart tracks. He was there supporting his son. Now he is in a coma but his son still races. He is not like his dad, but he does a good job.”

Impulsiveness is a dangerous character trade
“I just cannot cope with injustice and dishonesty. When stuff like that happens, I go mental. For example, if Max is racing and the rules are changed unfairly, I’m almost unstoppable. I will always stand up for my driver and especially my son. One day at the track, Max came up to me crying and said: 'Daddy, that man pushed me deliberately with his kart and it really hurts'. I told him he should work it out himself so he went back. Someone else then saw that guy grabbing Max by his throat. He was only nine. So I made sure that guy quickly left.

I have a reputation of being aggressive. But I my response is just fierce. Because of my wife Kelly I've become more composed. She really made me look inside. That's why we clashed, I wasn’t used to that. I was surrounded by people who only told me what I wanted to hear and never said what they really thought. Kelly does make her point and would argue against me. I couldn’t deal with that initially, but now I see the beauty of that character trade. She is not always the easiest person to deal with, but I think I need someone like her, she challenges me.”

Your son will become a better driver than you
“If someone deserves it, it's Max. I've driven Formula 1 and he still has to achieve that. But in terms of talent, speed and professionalism he is way ahead of me compared to where I was at his age. He is probably about four years ahead of me. He already won several European titles and a world championship.

That Max would race was inevitable. One day my ex-wife phoned me during a kart session: 'Max is standing alongside the track crying, it's about time you buy him a kart'. He was only four. I thought he was too young, but they kept asking so I gave in. After that, week after week, I drove with him on a track. I instantly saw he had what it takes. In his first four years, he won 58 out of 60 races. From age twelve he entered international events and that got him to the level he is now. All of his own accord.There are folk that thought we were doing stuff against the rules, that I managed to strike deals because I know folk in Formula 1. But that is nonsense, it's all Max' ability.

Le Mans is more difficult to win than a Formula 1 race
“When I raced in F1 aged 25, I thought Le Mans was for old guys. But in fact, it the race of all races.T o drive, with fifty other cars, three days in a row, in the dark and sometimes the rain, really suits me. Especially driving in the dark and in the rain. I become more alert and I actually drive faster during the night than during the day.
Also, to win a Formula 1 race, you need a good car, whereas at Le Mans the elements play a bigger part. Besides that, you share a car with two other drivers, so you are depending on them too. In the beginning people said it was going to be disastrous with that Verstappen guy because they knew how selfish I could be. But how different did it all turn out! Everyone was gobsmacked. We won everything that year.”

Jos Verstappen put F1 on the map in the Netherlands
“That's really up to others to say but my career certainly made Formula 1 popular. If you look at the viewing figures, at the height they reached a million per Grand Prix. Also, there was the fan club of almost 15.000 members. We once had a fan club meeting which caused a traffic jam on the motorway. In hindsight I did not enjoy it as much as I should have done.”

My biggest mistake...
“The incident with my then girlfriend and now wife (Jos allegedly tried to run into her). After I quit racing in 2003, I had a very tough time with loads of issues. If you are hard to handle, your response can be even more explosive. But that period is gone, I'm over the moon, really happy as I enter the second part of my life. Nowadays I have so much energy together with Kelly. We got married recently and she is pregnant. It's just marvellous.”

Jos Verstappen