Jos Verstappen: 'My racing career was all to make Max'

Published on 19 September 2019 by Kees-Jan Koster

Still Jos Verstappen is often found at the racing circuits to follow his son’s achievements closely. In an interview with Formula 1 podcast Beyond the Grid Jos opens up about the very beginning of Max’s career and the path to success they followed.

Jos remembers well how Max grew up with racing: “In 2000, when I was with Arrows, Max was three years old and I often took him with me to the circuit. When I went testing, I took him with me, and when I had to drive, someone from the team took care of Max. For us it was all about racing. Also during the meals, we talked about racing. Besides that, my father ran a karting team, so you could always find him around the racing tracks.”

It could not take long before Max wanted to race himself: “He was very interested in racing and wanted to start very early”, remembers Jos. “I answered him: wait till you are a little bit older. I knew that I would also have more time for him then. My plan was to put him in a go kart when he was six years old. But one day he was with his mum on a go kart track in Genk and he called my crying. He had seen a younger guy running and wanted to do it as well. I was in Canada for a race, so when I came home, I bought him a go kart. That is how it started, he was four-and-a-half.”

Jos immediately saw his son had lots of talent: “That was quite early on when he was in a go kart when he was around seven. When he went out for a race on cold tyres his first lap was always a second quicker than anybody else. When he had the lead in turn one after the start, he had a second lead after the first lap. For me that is talent, that is feeling. That is what you also see in the wet when you have very little grip, that is where he is fast.”

While Max started with karting, the career of Jos was at its end. Everything Jos learned in his career he used to train his son: “My racing career was all to make his racing career. Yes, that is how I see it”, confirms Verstappen. “I learned a lot from my career, as you learn the most form the mistakes you make. So I looked in the mirror and knew exactly what I had done wrong and tried to teach Max only the good things.”

Max, just like Jos, entered Formula 1 lightning fast. But Jos was not afraid that Max entered Formula 1 to quickly. “I was not ready, but I knew Max was. It was because his raw speed, the maturity he has and also the way Red Bull picked him up and trained him. They put in all effort to make it a success. For me it was also never about age. Especially not after his first test in Formula 1. It was an older car in which he had to drive three hundred kilometres an hour. He jumped in and it was so natural what he was doing. It was so impressive what he was doing for the first time in a Formula 1 car, that gave me all confidence.”

Today Max is an experienced Formula 1 driver with almost 100 starts. Jos is very pleased of what Max delivers: “He is doing really well. And he also points out immediately what is good and bad, for him it is easy to feel what is working or not, and that is what the team likes as well. He also feels that he has to perform well, as he is the main driver. He has to bring the points home, and that is what he is doing.”

Jos really enjoyed Max’ victory this year in Austria, especially because it was the first victory with Honda. “I was really happy for the Honda people. As they went through such a difficult time with McLaren. It was so good. Then when Max stepped onto the podium and when he pointed to the Honda logo on his overall, the Japanese mechanics had tears in their eyes. Then you see how much it did with those people. The hard work and effort they put in, that was unbelievable.”

Also the future of Max with the team of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing looks good according to Jos. “They are definitely on the right path. They want to win, and the team is working flat out. We will se what happens next year, that will be an important year for everybody.”