Verstappen has mostly competed in national rallies, including the Belgian Rally Championship. Surprisingly, the past season turned out to be a significant success for him.
The Verstappen family had yet another year full of achievements. While Max Verstappen wasn’t as dominant in the recently concluded F1 season as he’s been in the past, the Dutchman still won nine races and secured his fourth consecutive world championship.
But what about Jos? A comparison of win percentages reveals an unexpected twist. Jos Verstappen’s win percentage last year was 38.88%, slightly higher than Max’s 37.5%. Of course, these figures aren’t truly comparable due to the differences in disciplines and the number of events. However, it’s an amusing and surprising piece of trivia that might make for a great anecdote at future gatherings.
Max Verstappen is a household name among motorsport fans, a four-time world champion who has dominated Formula 1 in recent years. But how skilled is his father Jos as a rally driver?
Perhaps the best person to answer that question is his co-driver, Renaud Jamoul.
“For sure he has done very well,,” Jamoul told DirtFish.
“When we started together two years ago, I think at that time he had done seven races [before], and from the first testing we’ve done together, he was driving at nearly same pace as Stephane Lefebvre with the same car on the test road that he knows at that time,” Jamoul explained.
Verstappen has steadily gained experience in rallying, actively participating in numerous events. Last year, he entered a total of 18 different rallies.
“I felt like he missed just the experience, and especially with the pacenotes, to know where he was going. Because as soon as he knows the road or the track, he can do well. He has the handling of the car, he has the car control and the speed, and he was just missing the experience,” Jamoul reflected.
While Verstappen has improved year after year, Jamoul insists that the focus has always been on having fun, even though Jos takes his rally driving seriously. But how far could Jos Verstappen go in the world of rallying?
“I must say, he surprised me already quite a few times,” Jamoul laughed.
“When we started together two years ago, the pace was around 1.2 seconds per kilometer slower than the best Belgian driver. I think one year later, we were already fighting for the victory. And now, we have the pace to fight everywhere in Belgium, even when he discovered the race, like it was in Wallonie in April. It was his first time, and straight from the beginning, he was on it,” Jamoul continued.
“I think he can perform very well even at the highest level, but he will miss the experience. If we go, for example, for the European Championship, for sure the first year, it will be difficult. When you go to Roma for the first time, those guys have so much more experience.”
Jamoul is confident, however, that Verstappen could adapt to a top-tier series and, with experience, compete for top positions.
“At some point, I think if we do two years in a row on European Championship, maybe we can fight for the podium. But it will be for sure difficult. But as I said, he already surprised me a few times, so why not?” Jamoul pondered.
