Verstappen still gets input from father Jos: 'Criticism is part of it too'

Verstappen sr. will compete in the Belgian Rally Championship (BRC) and the European Rally Championship (ERC) in 2025, among others. Despite his full schedule, he is also still very busy with son Max, who now has four Formula 1 world titles to his name.

Jos Verstappen still busy a lot with Max

"Yes, of course I am also busy with Max," Jos answers a question from the podcast Op De Rallykoffie. "That's a bit less now, but certainly at the beginning of his career I gave him direction, also in Formula 1 and that's running now. He's old and wise enough to do that himself now."

"I think I'm the one who still tells him honestly what's going well and what's not, and he appreciates that. I think everyone needs a bit of that. I mean, I always have his best interests at heart and of course we want to win everything. That includes criticism. And besides rally, that's basically my life. Everything revolves around racing anyway," he adds.

Busy rally programme for Jos Verstappen

In recent years, Jos has completely found his niche in rallying, a challenge he thoroughly enjoys. "I am happy that I have found rallying, which gives me an enormous drive and a goal again. I find it insane to do, and it's not just the driving but also the communication with your co-pilot. I think we have a really good bond and you notice that in the car. We can say anything to each other, we are both very driven and we are honest with each other. That's important."

The switch from track racing to rallying did require some adaptability. "I think I had the most trouble with my co-pilot's directions, so understanding those notes and someone constantly talking in your ear than with driving. I was fully concentrated driving, but the notes didn't reach me, they didn't penetrate. That's where I struggled the most. The feeling with the car has always been there."

"I must say I learnt a lot from my co-pilot Renaud Jamoul," the Limburger continued. "He is very driven, well organised. Our team is very driven with how we want the car to be, actually together with the team and the engineer we leave nothing untapped to get the car as good as possible. Before the first rally of the BRC in Haspengouw, we will drive the Rallye Routes du Nord in northern France as a test. There it is generally very smooth and that corresponds a bit to Haspengouw."

No Dakar Rally for Jos Verstappen

The former F1 driver has a lot of races scheduled this year, mainly in the BRC and ERC, in which he will drive all the rallies. There is also the Rallye International du Valais and a historic rally in Sweden. "And what we are also going to do is the East African Safari Classic Rally with the Porsche. We have an insanely great programme," Jos concludes.

January saw the Dakar Rally take place. Although the rally in the desert captures Jos' imagination, he does not see himself participating in it so soon. "I have to say: every time I see it I think it's beautiful, but I don't think it's for me," Verstappen concludes.

This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.

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