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Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɔs fɛrˈstɑpə(n)]; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch racing and rally driver who competes in the European Rally Championship as a privateer. Verstappen competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2003.
Born and raised in Dutch Limburg, Verstappen began competitive kart racing aged eight. After a successful karting career—culminating in two senior European Championships in 1989—Verstappen graduated to junior formulae. He started his career in Formula Opel Lotus, winning the Benelux Championship in 1992. Later that year, he also won the EFDA Nations Cup, representing the Netherlands. Progressing to German Formula Three in 1993, Verstappen won the title in his rookie season with Opel, further winning the Masters of Formula 3.
Signing for Benetton as a test driver in 1994, Verstappen made his Formula One debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix, replacing the injured JJ Lehto to partner Michael Schumacher for the opening two rounds of the season. Verstappen formally replaced Lehto after the Canadian Grand Prix, scoring two podiums in his rookie season before being replaced by Johnny Herbert in Japan. His podium in Hungary made him the first Dutch driver to score a podium finish in Formula One. Verstappen competed for Simtek in 1995 before the team went bankrupt five rounds into the season, returning to his test driver role with Benetton. He became a full-time driver for Footwork in 1996. After non-classified championship finishes in 1997 and 1998 with Tyrrell and Stewart, respectively, Verstappen became a test driver for the Honda project in 1999. He returned to a race seat with Arrows in 2000, competing with them for a further two seasons. After a year hiatus, Verstappen completed his final Formula One season with Minardi in 2003.
Following his departure, Verstappen moved to A1 Grand Prix with the Netherlands for the 2005–06 season, achieving his sole victory in the South Africa feature race. He then competed in sportscar racing in 2008, winning both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class with Van Merksteijn. In rallying, he contested the 2022 Ypres Rally as an independent entrant, and has competed in the European Rally Championship since 2025. Since 2002, Verstappen has coached and managed his son Max from karting at an early age to winning four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles. Max's success in the sport have renewed public scrutiny of Verstappen, who has faced several allegations of assault spanning two decades.
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, a feat that remained unmatched until his son Max in 2013.
At the end of 1991, Verstappen 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.
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.
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Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɔs fɛrˈstɑpə(n)]; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch racing and rally driver who competes in the European Rally Championship as a privateer. Verstappen competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2003.
Born and raised in Dutch Limburg, Verstappen began competitive kart racing aged eight. After a successful karting career—culminating in two senior European Championships in 1989—Verstappen graduated to junior formulae. He started his career in Formula Opel Lotus, winning the Benelux Championship in 1992. Later that year, he also won the EFDA Nations Cup, representing the Netherlands. Progressing to German Formula Three in 1993, Verstappen won the title in his rookie season with Opel, further winning the Masters of Formula 3.
Signing for Benetton as a test driver in 1994, Verstappen made his Formula One debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix, replacing the injured JJ Lehto to partner Michael Schumacher for the opening two rounds of the season. Verstappen formally replaced Lehto after the Canadian Grand Prix, scoring two podiums in his rookie season before being replaced by Johnny Herbert in Japan. His podium in Hungary made him the first Dutch driver to score a podium finish in Formula One. Verstappen competed for Simtek in 1995 before the team went bankrupt five rounds into the season, returning to his test driver role with Benetton. He became a full-time driver for Footwork in 1996. After non-classified championship finishes in 1997 and 1998 with Tyrrell and Stewart, respectively, Verstappen became a test driver for the Honda project in 1999. He returned to a race seat with Arrows in 2000, competing with them for a further two seasons. After a year hiatus, Verstappen completed his final Formula One season with Minardi in 2003.
Following his departure, Verstappen moved to A1 Grand Prix with the Netherlands for the 2005–06 season, achieving his sole victory in the South Africa feature race. He then competed in sportscar racing in 2008, winning both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class with Van Merksteijn. In rallying, he contested the 2022 Ypres Rally as an independent entrant, and has competed in the European Rally Championship since 2025. Since 2002, Verstappen has coached and managed his son Max from karting at an early age to winning four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles. Max's success in the sport have renewed public scrutiny of Verstappen, who has faced several allegations of assault spanning two decades.
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, a feat that remained unmatched until his son Max in 2013.
At the end of 1991, Verstappen 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.
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.
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