Jos Verstappen will miss F1 title celebrations if Max becomes world champion

Jos and Max enter Qatar track in 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Jos Verstappen will miss F1 title celebrations if Max becomes world champion

Jos Verstappen and Max share a close relationship

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 6 November 2025 18:54

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Jos Verstappen has revealed that he will not be at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, even if son Max Verstappen has a chance of winning the F1 title.

Verstappen Sr has revealed that this weekend's race at Interlagos, Brazil will be the final F1 race of the season that he attends, even though four-time world champion son Max still has a chance of claiming a record-equalling fifth consecutive world championship.

The Red Bull star is 36 points behind McLaren's Lando Norris with four race weekends remaining, and two of those four race weekends are sprint weekends, meaning there are more points on offer.

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Despite this, Verstappen Sr will not watch his son compete in 2025 beyond this weekend's race, as he instead focuses on his rally career.

The 53-year-old has been taking part in the European Rally Championship this year, and will now switch his attention to the East African Safari Classic Rally, meaning he will be in Kenya when the Qatar and Abu Dhabi grands prix weekends are taking place.

And he has confirmed that he will not be there to celebrate a potential fifth title with his son, unless he has to retire early from the event.

"I'm not going to cancel that rally in Africa, even if Max can still become champion," Jos Verstappen told De Telegraaf.

"But if, for example, we were to retire early, I could always fly to Abu Dhabi."

Will Max Verstappen win 2025 title?

While 36 points seems like a steep gap to close with just four race weekends remaining, there are 33 points available this weekend alone.

Verstappen needs a drop off in performance from the McLarens or, perhaps more likely, an incident which sees both of the two papaya drivers drop out of podium contention given they themselves are in a tight scrap for the championship title.

But Verstappen is in great form himself, having claimed grand prix podiums in the last six races, while having won four of the last seven races when taking into account sprints.

He is also the only one of the three 2025 championship protagonists to have won a championship before, and has bundles of experience over Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Jos Verstappen may just regret not being at the last few races of the season, with what could be Verstappen's greatest championship triumph yet.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Brazilian Grand Prix Jos Verstappen