F1 News: Max Verstappen's father Jos to make motorsport DEBUT

Jos Verstappen, Rally, 2022, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Legends

Jos Verstappen to make motorsport DEBUT

The veteran is going to be trying something new

By Stuart Telford.

Thursday 11 April 2024 21:00

Jos Verstappen - father of Formula 1 world champion Max - will make another motorsport debut in Wales this weekend.

Max Verstappen has won the last three F1 world drivers' championships with Red Bull, but father Jos also competed with quite some aplomb, and was the first Dutchman to score a podium finish in 1994.

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Since leaving F1, Verstappen Sr. has competed in the A1 Grand Prix as well as winning the Le Mans 24 hour race in 2008, as well as serving as Max's manager.

But now he will turn his hand to another discipline, with a debut in the British Rally Championship during the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages to come on Saturday.

Verstappen's BRC debut

Verstappen Sr. may never have contested a loose surface event, but he is excited to get going.

Max Verstappen won the recent Japanese GP

"We're very happy to come to Wales and the British Rally Championship,” the 52-year-old told the BRC's official website. "Renaud's done Wales Rally GB several times but for me, these stages will be the first.

"I only started rallying two years ago but only with tarmac events. After two test sessions in the wintertime in the south of France, we've decided to do our first proper gravel rally and as Renaud has some really good memories in Wales, this rally was looking like the best one to start with."

While the elder Verstappen says there is "no plan in terms of performance," his son is pulling away atop this year's F1 drivers' standings, with 77 points to Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez's 64 after victory in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Jos Verstappen