Jos Verstappen
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| Jos Verstappen | |
| Formula One Career | |
| Nationality |  Dutch |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1994-1998, 2000-2001, 2003 |
| Team(s) | Benetton, Simtek, Footwork, Tyrrell, Stewart, Arrows and Minardi |
| Grands Prix | 107 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 2 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First Grand Prix | 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 2003 Japanese Grand Prix |
Jos Verstappen (born 4 March 1972, Montfort) is a Dutch former Formula One driver.
Verstappen began karting at the age of 8, and was participating in (national) competitions not long after. In 1984 he became Dutch junior champion. He remained successful, and won two European titles and a large number of international races in 1989.
At the end of 1991 he made the transition to car racing. He drove in Formula Opel Lotus, a class in which identical cars compete against each other. He won the European championship in his first year, and got an offer to drive in Formula 3 with Van Amersfoort Racing, who also developed other drivers such as Christijan Albers, Tom Coronel and Bas Leinders. During that European winter season, he raced in New Zealand Formula Atlantic. Subsequently, in German Formula 3, he won several international competitions, including the 1993 Marlboro Masters and the German Formula 3 championship.
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[edit] Verstappen in Formula One
[edit] 1994 Season
In 1994 he was hired as a test and backup driver in the Benetton F1 team. After a crash in testing by J.J. Lehto (who broke a neck vertebra), he drove in several races from the start of the season, partnering Michael Schumacher. Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut during the Grand Prix of Brazil. During the race he was torpedoed by Eddie Irvine during an overtake. Verstappen somersaulted, but emerged unharmed.
During a pitstop in the GP of Germany at the Hockenheimring, gasoline was spilt onto heated car parts, setting the car, with Verstappen in it, ablaze for a brief period. As was usual at the time the visor of his helmet was open, and he walked away with slight burns to his nose. Since then drivers have kept their visors closed during refueling stops.
A high point in this season was Verstappen's 3rd place during the Grand Prix in Hungary, Michael Schumacher having allowed Verstappen to unlap himself on the final lap to pass Martin Brundle's stricken McLaren Peugeot. A curiosity was his accident during a training session for the GP of France at Magny-Cours, in which Verstappen rammed his car into the pit wall causing debris to fly up and destroy a TV installation. Due to this accident, this equipment is now protected from the race track by acrylic glass.
For the last two races of the season, Verstappen was replaced by Johnny Herbert.
[edit] 1995-2003
In 1995 he was stationed at Simtek by Benetton team principal Flavio Briatore. Despite some strong showings Verstappen only finished once in the five races he drove for the team. The team had financial troubles and went bankrupt after the Grand Prix of Monaco. After the Simtek debacle, Verstappen did some test driving with Benetton and Ligier.
In 1996 he drove for the Arrows team, but engine troubles prevented him from making a splash on the stage. During the GP of Belgium, a part of the suspension of Verstappen's car broke off, causing him to hit the railing. He ended up with a prolonged neck injury. If it had not been for the raised cockpit edges introduced that year, Verstappen might not have survived the accident.
In 1997 he went to the Tyrrell-Ford team, but didn't score. He was dropped by the team at the end of the season after Tyrrell's new owners, British American Racing, opted for Ricardo Rosset instead. However, Stewart Grand Prix came to the rescue and Verstappen was drafted for the last 9 races of the 1998 season after Jan Magnussen had been shown the door. He was a test driver for the Benetton team earlier on in that same year, but the latter would not hire him as a permanent test driver for lack of sponsors.
For 1999 everything seemed to be going in the right direction for Verstappen. Near the end of 1998 he became the testdriver for the Honda Formula One project. He teamed up with old Tyrrell friends Rupert Manwaring and Harvey Postlethwaite, testing in 1999 and participating from the year 2000. All went well for the Honda test team until Harvey Postlethwaite died of a heart-attack. Not long after, Honda changed their plans from becoming a fully factory team to just an engine supplier, and Verstappen was again without a Formula One seat. He tested for the Jordan team in case Damon Hill decided to retire before the end of the season, but this came to nothing.
In 2000 he returned to Arrows, at that moment a promising team. But the many technical problems plagued Verstappen and his teammates Pedro de la Rosa and Enrique Bernoldi. During the 2001 season Verstappen had some very good races, but he also blotted his copybook with an incident at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which put him and Juan Pablo Montoya, who was leading at the time, out of the race. The Arrows proved to be fast, but quite unreliable. Verstappen finished the season with a contract for the next season, but ultimately it was put aside in favor of the better funded Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Verstappen started looking for another team in 2002. He had almost signed a testcontract with Sauber, but he turned out to be physically too large for the Sauber C21, which was smaller than its predecessor.
In 2003 Verstappen drove for European Minardi, a team which rarely scores points. He made an impression several times with the reliable but relatively slow Minardi, but left the Italian Formula 1 team because he didn't feel like driving in the rear-guard for another year. His most impressive feat was topping Friday qualifying in France after a rain-hit session.
Verstappen participated in 107 Grands Prix. He achieved two podium places, and scored a total of 17 championship points.
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Team | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Benetton | BRA Ret |
PFC Ret |
SMR |
MON |
ESP |
CAN |
FRA Ret |
GBR 8 |
GER Ret |
HUN 3 |
BEL 3 |
ITA Ret |
POR 5 |
EUR Ret |
JPN |
AUS |
Benetton | 10th | 10 | |
| 1995 | Simtek | BRA Ret |
ARG Ret |
SMR Ret |
ESP 12 |
MON Ret |
CAN |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
HUN |
BEL |
ITA |
POR |
EUR |
PFC |
JPN |
AUS |
Simtek | N/A | 0 |
| 1996 | Footwork | AUS Ret |
BRA Ret |
ARG 6 |
EUR Ret |
SMR Ret |
MON Ret |
ESP Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 10 |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
BEL Ret |
ITA 8 |
POR Ret |
JPN 11 |
Footwork | 16th | 1 | |
| 1997 | Tyrrell | AUS Ret |
BRA 15 |
ARG Ret |
SMR 10 |
MON 8 |
ESP 11 |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER 10 |
HUN Ret |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
AUT 12 |
LUX Ret |
JPN 13 |
EUR 16 |
Tyrrell | N/A | 0 |
| 1998 | Stewart | AUS |
BRA |
ARG |
SMR |
ESP |
MON |
CAN |
FRA 12 |
GBR Ret |
AUT Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 13 |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
LUX 13 |
JPN Ret |
Stewart | N/A | 0 | |
| 2000 | Arrows | AUS Ret |
BRA 7 |
SMR 14 |
GBR Ret |
ESP Ret |
EUR Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN 5 |
FRA Ret |
AUT Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 13 |
BEL 15 |
ITA 4 |
USA Ret |
JPN Ret |
MYS 10 |
Arrows | 12th | 5 |
| 2001 | Arrows | AUS 10 |
MYS 7 |
BRA Ret |
SMR Ret |
ESP 12 |
AUT 6 |
MON 8 |
CAN 10 |
EUR Ret |
FRA 13 |
GBR 10 |
GER 9 |
HUN 12 |
BEL 10 |
ITA Ret |
USA Ret |
JPN 15 |
Arrows | 18th | 1 |
| 2003 | Minardi | AUS 11 |
MYS 13 |
BRA Ret |
SMR Ret |
ESP 12 |
AUT Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN 9 |
EUR 14 |
FRA 16 |
GBR 15 |
GER Ret |
HUN 12 |
ITA Ret |
USA 10 |
JPN 15 |
Minardi | N/A | 0 |
[edit] 2005 and beyond
After two years of not participating in races, Jos Verstappen was confirmed in July as driver of the A1 Netherlands team managed by seatholder Jan Lammers's Racing for Holland, for the A1 Grand Prix series. They won the feature race at Durban.
On 27 September 2006 Jos Verstappen split with A1 Team Neatherlands after failing to secure payment guarantees. This resulted from Verstappen only being paid for the 2005/06 season a few weeks before the next season started. He was replaced by Jeroen Bleekemolen for the first race of the 2006/07 season at the team's home race at Zandvoort.
[edit] Complete A1 Grand Prix results
| Yr | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-2006 | NED | GBR | GER | POR | AUS | MYS | ARE | ZAF | IND | MEX | USA | CHN | NED |
