Jos Verstappen : The Formula One DataBase

Next Race: 2009-03-29 15:00:00 GMT+11:00

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Birthdate:	March 4th 1972

Country:	The Netherlands

Gender:	M

History:

1982 -	Jos learned his racing skills during nine years of competitive karting, starting at the age of ten.
1984 -	Winner of the 1984 Dutch Karting Championship
1986 -	Winner of the 1986 Dutch Karting Championship
1989 -	Winner of the 1989 Intercontinental A European ChampionshipWinner of the 1989 Formula K European Series
1991 -	Winner of the 1991 Belgian Karting Championship
1992 -	Winner of the Benelux & Dutch Formula Opel Lotus Series. Contested Opel Lotus Euroseries.
1993 -	Winner of the German F3 Championship. Fourth place in the New Zealand Formula Atlantic Series. Winner of the Marlboro Master F3 race at Zandvoort.
1994 -	Formula One - Benetton (Test, then Race Driver): Number of races entered: 10. Team-mates: Michael Schumacher & JJ Lehto. Best results: Third place in Hungary & Belgium and fifth in Portugal. Points: 10, Championship position: 10th.
1995 -	Formula One - Simtek. Number of races entered: 5, Team-mate: Schiattarella, Best result: 12th at the Spanish Grand Prix. Formula One - Benetton & Ligier (Test Driver).
1996 -	Formula One - Arrows. Number of races entered: 16 (Full season), Team-mate: Riccardo Rosset, Best result: Sixth place in Argentina, Points: 1, Championship position: 16th.
1997 -	Formula One - Tyrrell. Number of races entered: 17 (Full season), Team-mate: Mika Salo, Best results: Eighth place in Monaco.
1998 -	Formula One - Stewart. Number of races entered: 9, Team-mate: Rubens Barrichello, Best result: 12th place at French Grand Prix.
1999 -	Test Driver for Honda Racing Development
2000 -	Formula One - Arrows. Number of races entered: 17 (Full season), Team-mate: Pedro de la Rosa, Best results: Fourth place in Italy & fifth in Canada, Points: 5, Championship position: 12th
2001 -	Formula One - Arrows. Number of races entered: 17 (Full season), Team-mate: Enrique Bernoldi, Best result: 6th place in Austria, Points:1, Championship position: 18th
2003 -	Formula 1: driver Minardi F1 Team

The Early Years

Jos 'The Boss' Verstappen was born on the 4th of March 1972, and started karting just eight years later. His talent became obvious, first at national level, before he progressed onto the European and International scene. He left karting to race in Formula Opel in 1991, and then moved onto German Formula 3, where he won the title. He also won the Marlboro Masters in 1993, which got him noticed by the top Formula 1 teams.

A Surprising Race Seat

Verstappen had impressed so much in F3 that he was picked by Formula 1 champions Benetton to be their test and reserve driver. However an unfortunate testing crash for the teams number 2, JJ Lehto, led to Jos
sitting in the car for the first race in Brazil. His race ended spectacularly when he somersaulted after being rammed by Eddie Irvine's Jordan. Lehto was back in time for the third race of the season, San Marino, but from then on the two drivers chopped-and-changed for the rest of the season. It was a fairly disappointing season for both drivers, with the team even opting for Johnny Herbert above Jos and JJ for the last two races.

Days at the Back: Simtek, Arrows, Tyrell, Stewart, Arrows again and Minardi

Unsurprisingly dropped by Benetton at the end of 1994, Jos was forced to seek refuge with Simtek. The fairly young team had been on the back foot since driver Roland Ratzenberger had died at Imola the year before, and Simtek wouldn't complete the season, bowing out at Monaco.

Verstappen was back however in 1996 with Arrows/Footwork. An uneventful year saw him hit the wall at Spa, leaving him with neck injuries. Many said if cockpit edges hadn't been raised at the start of the season Jos wouldn't have lived. Following that he had a point-less year at Tyrell-Ford, who chose not to resign him. In 1998 he stepped in mid-season for Jan Magnussen at Stewart. Although this was arguably the best car he had driven since leaving Benetton, he never really performed at the Scottish team. He had one-off tests with former team Benetton in 1999, but the team never chose to take him on as a test driver.

Verstappen at last seemed to be back on the road when he resigned for Arrows in 2000. However technical problems plagued him and team-mate Pedro De La Rosa. The same was to be said the following year when he partnered Enrique Bernoldi. However 2001 will always be remembered for when Verstappen punted off Juan Pablo Montoya from the lead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Jos was dropped in favour of Heinz Harald Frentzen for 2002. In 2003 he drove for the Minardi team, alongside rookies Justin Wilson and Nicolas Kiesa. He outperformed both but no-one else. At the end of the season he hung up his helmet, with a total of just two podiums and seventeen points to his name.

Jos the Creator

Jos may not have had a successful F1 career, but there are two things in the sport which should be attributed to him. In practice for the French Grand Prix in his debut season Jos rammed the pitwall, causing debris to hit, and break, a TV camera. Since then all cameras have been fitted with plexiglass coverings.

On a more serious and important note, Jos' most famous moment occured the very same year at Hockenheim. During a pitstop fuel was spilt onto Verstappens car, causing it to briefly catch fire. At the time Verstappen had his visor open and the resultant flames caused severe burns to his nose. Since then drivers have always kept their visors down during pitstops.

Racing for Holland

Back to racing in 2005, in a new form of motorsport. Competing for his country, the Netherlands, in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix championship. Having been taken off at the first race of the championship, Verstappen came through from last on the grid in race two to finish sixth, giving his country their first five A1 points.

Statistics

Statistic	#	Percentage	First	Last
Number of Grand Prix	107	100%	1994	2003
Number of starts	107	100.00%	1994	2003
Number of finishes	48	44.86%	1994	2003
Number of finishes on podium	2	1.87%	1994	1994
Number of finishes in points	7	6.54%	1994	2001
Number of retirements	59	55.14%	1994	2003