Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (born March 4, 1972 at Montfort, Netherlands) is a former Dutch Formula One driver who competed from in between 1994 and 2003. Verstappen competed for the Benetton, Simtek, Footwork, Tyrrell, Stewart, Arrows and Minardi teams. He is the father of current F1 driver Max Verstappen.
Formula One Career[]
1993: Testing[]
Verstappen tested a Footwork Formula One car on September 28, 1993 at the Autódromo do Estoril alongside Gil de Ferran and Christian Fittipaldi. He set a decent lap time that would have qualified him in the preceding race on his 4th timed lap. After testing, every single team (except Ferrari and Williams) contacted him.
1994: Benetton[]
He eventually signed for Benetton for the 1994 season. After Benetton's driver JJ Lehto was injured in pre-season testing, Verstappen filled in the seat for the season-opening Brazilian Grand Prix. During the race, he collided with Jordan's Eddie Irvine, later triggering a multi-accident, involving Ligier's Éric Bernard and McLaren's Martin Brundle. At the German Grand Prix, a dramatic incident happened as Verstappen was about to do his 1st schedueld pitstop. Meanwhile his car was being refuelled, the fuel leaked onto the car, engulfing in flames for several seconds. Verstappen was eventually uninjured in the incident.
Verstappen collected two podiums at Hungary and Belgium. Towards the end of the season, he was replaced by the more experienced Johnny Herbert.
1995: Simtek[]
Verstappen was loaned out to Simtek by Benetton's team principal Flavio Briatore. After the Simtek team folded after the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix, he did some testing with Benetton and Ligier. However, he would eventually not be selected for Benetton's line-up for 1996, as Briatore instead signed Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.
1996: Footwork[]
After leaving Benetton, he signed to drive for Footwork, the team he tested before in 1993. He impressed in the early rounds, running 5th at Brazil and finishing 6th in Argentina.
During the Belgian Grand Prix, he crashed heavily due to a broken suspension, ending with a neck injury. He was replaced by Damon Hill for 1997.
He also tested for the Bridgestone Tyres Test Team, as the tyre manufacturer were preparing for their return to Formula One.
1997: Tyrrell[]
Verstappen went into Tyrrell for 1997. He did not score any points throughout the season, despite running 5th in Canada, due to an underpowered Ford Cosworth EDV V8 engine.
Verstappen was supposed to be retained by the team in 1998, but he was replaced by pay-driver Ricardo Rosset.
1998: Stewart[]
Without a drive in 1998, Verstappen tested once again for Benetton, but the team would not hire him as a permanent test driver due to lack of sponsors. He returned to the sport at the French Grand Prix for Stewart, replacing Jan Magnussen.
Verstappen did not perform as better than his predecessor due to an uncompetitive car and the team struggling to run two cars to the same level. He would be replaced by Johnny Herbert for the 1999 season, left without a drive.
2000-2001: Return to Arrows[]
In 2000, Verstappen returned to the Arrows team.
After the 2001 season, Verstappen re-signed to drive for Arrows in 2002, but the team dropped him in favour of German Heinz-Harald Frentzen. He almost signed a test driver contract with Sauber but he was too physically large for the car, which was smaller than its predecessor.
2003: Minardi[]
Verstappen returned again to Formula One in 2003 for the Paul Stoddart-owned Minardi team.
At the end of the season, he left the Italian team because he did not like driving in the rear-guard.
Verstappen was considered a replacement for Giorgio Pantano at Jordan partway through the 2004 season, but he could not fit in the car, beginning to look for drives outside Formula One.
He participated in 107 Grands Prix, achieved a total of 2 podium places and scored a total 17 championship points.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Pts. | WDC Pos. | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Footwork Mugen Honda | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | Test Driver | ||
1994 | Mild Seven Benetton Ford | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | Test Driver | Report | |
10 | 10th | ||||
1995 | MTV Simtek Ford | Simtek-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
Mild Seven Benetton Renault | Benetton-Renault | Test Driver | |||
Ligier Gitanes Blondes | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | ||||
1996 | Footwork Hart | Footwork-Hart | 1 | 16th | Report |
Bridgestone Test Team | Bridgestone-Mugen-Honda | Test Driver | |||
1997 | PIAA Tyrrell Ford | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
1998 | Mild Seven Benetton Playlife | Benetton-Playlife | Test Driver | Report | |
HSBC Stewart Ford | Stewart-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | ||
1999 | Honda Test Team | Honda | Test Driver | ||
Benson & Hedges Jordan | Jordan-Mugen-Honda | ||||
2000 | Arrows F1 Team | Arrows-Supertec | 5 | 12th | Report |
2001 | Orange Arrows Asiatech | Arrows-Asiatech | 1 | 18th | Report |
2002 | Sauber Petronas | Sauber-Petronas | Test Driver | ||
2003 | European Minardi Cosworth Trust Minardi Cosworth |
Minardi-Cosworth | 0 | 22nd | Report |
Career Statistics[]
Entries | 107 |
Starts | 105 |
Pole Positions | 0 |
Sprint Poles | 0 |
Front Row Starts | 0 |
Race Wins | 0 |
Sprint Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 2 |
Sprint Podiums | 0 |
Fastest Laps | 0 |
Sprint Fastest Laps | 0 |
Points | 17 |
Laps Raced | 4497 |
Distance Raced | 21,552 km (13,392 mi) |
Career Results[]
Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | Pos | ||||||
1994 | 10 | 10th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | Ret | Ret | 8th | Ret | 3rd | 3rd | Ret | 5th | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
1995 | 0 | NC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | Ret | Ret | 12th | DNS | |||||||||||||||||||||
1996 | 1 | 16th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | Ret | 6th | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8th | Ret | 11th | ||||||||||
1997 | 0 | NC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | 15th | Ret | 10th | 8th | 11th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 12th | Ret | 13th | 16th | |||||||||
1998 | 0 | NC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
12th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 13th | Ret | Ret | 13th | Ret | |||||||||||||||||
1999 | Test Driver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | 5 | 12th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | 7th | 14th | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 5th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 13th | 15th | 4th | Ret | Ret | 10th | |||||||||
2001 | 1 | 18th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
10th | 7th | Ret | Ret | 12th | 6th | 8th | 10th | Ret | 13th | 10th | 9th | 12th | 10th | Ret | Ret | 15th | |||||||||
2002 | Test Driver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2003 | 0 | 22nd | |||||||||||||||||||||||
11th | 13th | Ret | Ret | 12th | Ret | Ret | 9th | 14th | 16th | 15th | Ret | 12th | Ret | 10th | 15th |
Key | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
Italics | Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols |
Notes[]
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