http://www.verstappen.nl/UK/
Born: 4 March 1972, Montfort,
Netherlands.
Nationality: Dutch
Marital status: Married to Sophie, son
Max and daughter Victoria.
Lives: Monaco
Height: 1.75m - 5ft 9ins
Weight: 73kgs - 163lbs
Sports & Hobbies: Squash, fishing,
cycling, karting & model cars
First drove car: Aged 8 years
First Grand Prix: 1994 - Interlagos, Brazil.
Best Grand Prix finish: 1994 - Third in
Hungary & Belgium, fifth in Portugal
1996 - Sixth in Argentina
Grand Prix starts: 57
Points: 11
FOR THE RECORD
Jos Verstappen first took an interest in racing
when he was eight years old. On the day Verstappen received his Holy Communion
he heard a buzzing sound when he left church. Together with his father he decided
to skip all the festivities to watch a karting event that was organised in his
local village. Father and son immediately became avid karting fans and it didn't
take too long before he was driving his own kart. Two years later he was ready
and old enough to compete in races.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
1982 - 1991
In 1982, when he started karting at a national
level his career became a serious matter. First success came in 1984 when he
won the Dutch Junior Championship. He won this national title another 3 times
during this period. His most successful year in karting was 1989 when he won
a large number of international races. Plus he was Belgian Champion 125cc, European
Champion Formula K & European Champion Intercontinental A.
1991
At the end of 1991 Verstappen graduated from
karting into motor-racing. That year his father Frans paid a visit to the Belgian
Grand Prix to check future possibilities for Verstappen in motor-racing. Walking
through the paddock he dropped in at the Porsche team of Mike and Toine Hezemans,
some known faces from earlier days in karting. By chance, Huub Rothengatter
the Dutch ex-Formula One driver was there. Rothengatter, in his capacity as
a Philips PR-man with the Jordan Formula One team, had contemplated assisting
young racers who wanted to establish a career in motor-racing. Huub and Frans
Verstappen entered into a serious discussion and as a result he was invited
to test a racing car at the Zandvoort Circuit. On this traditional seaside track,
surrounded by sand dunes, he drove an outdated Formula Ford car. It was a Crossle
'79 owned by Huub's friend Frits van Amersfoort; the car had been parked in
his garage and not been touched for six years. The times that he put on the
clocks were so spectacular that the timekeepers doubted the accuracy of their
stopwatches.
After this first successful test it was decided
to offer Verstappen another test in an Opel Lotus. The test was held on a rainy
November day in one of the cars from the Van Amersfoort team, again at the Zandvoort
track. Once more he managed to impress all and made people double-check their
stopwatches. However, there were no more doubts now about the timing-equipment
and to everybody involved it was obvious that the career of a new Dutch motor-racing
talent had just started.
1992
In 1992 Jos Verstappen was launched as the up-and-coming
man of Dutch motor- racing. With the support of Phillips, Marlboro, but most
of all with that of his mentor Huub Rothengatter, he made the switch from karting
to Formula Opel Lotus. Verstappen drove initially for the Opel Lotus Benelux
Championship. The ambitious plan was to prepare him for Formula One within five
years: First two years in Opel Lotus followed by two years of Formula 3, then
one year in Formula 3000. However, in the Benelux championship Verstappen was
simply unbeatable. Only once did he not score any points that season when due
to a crash, where he rolled his car, he left the Zolder circuit empty-handed.
The rest of the races that year were won with great superiority. The season
was also rewarded financially when he was elected the N.A.V. Dutch driver of
the year. The prize consisted of a cheque for 45 thousand Dutch Guilders and
was presented to him by Ken Tyrrell. The British Formula One team owner promised
Verstappen a test in one of his cars if he could win the German Formula 3 Championship
the following year.
Formula Opel Lotus, 10 victories
Dutch Champion
Benelux Champion
International Nations Cup Winner
Dutch Driver of the Year
1993
After success in the Opel Lotus Series, Verstappen
and manager Rothengatter decided to graduate to Formula 3 level. Driving the
Formula Atlantic series in New Zealand in preparation for his F3 season, the
opposition found it difficult to cope with Verstappen's driving abilities. In
an extremely outdated Swift-Toyota he managed to finish on the rostrum in 6
out of 10 races. After the 'down-under' experience Verstappen was ready to make
his Formula 3 debut. Verstappen scored a third place result in his first Formula
3 race. With a total of eight following victories the championship was his.
At the end of the year he got an invitation to test a Formula One car for the
Arrows team. After Verstappen put in some sensational times at Estoril, he became
known as Formula One's hottest 'new boy'. Other Formula One teams also started
to get interested in him.
Formula Atlantic new Zealand,
three victories
International Championship, fourth place
German Formula 3 Champion - eight victories
Formula 3 Grand Prix of Monaco - third place
Marlboro Masters Zandvoort - first place
Dutch Driver of the year
1994
After a winter of negotiations Verstappen and
Huub agreed a contract with the Benetton team. The first year it was intended
as a test-driver experience builder and for the subsequent year he was promised
to drive some races. This all changed when JJ Lehto crashed heavily during a
test at the Silverstone circuit early in 1994. As the third driver of the team
he was the obvious replacement for Lehto alongside Michael Schumacher. Verstappen
had achieved a Formula One drive in the record-time of two years after starting
his first race.
His first Formula One race however was very spectacular
for him. In an effort to avoid the troubled car of Martin Brundle, Eddie Irvine
launched his Jordan using the Benetton of Verstappen as a springboard. A spectacular
crash that took four cars out as a result. Two races later JJ Lehto got the
chance to show he had recovered from his testing incident. Verstappen was put
on the sidelines. After the disappointing results of Lehto, he got another chance
to prove himself from the French Grand Prix onwards.
Benetton Formula One - 10 races - third in Hungary
& Belgium and fifth in Portugal, 10 World Championship points.
1995
With a little help from Benetton, where he was
still under contract, he was transferred to the British Simtek team. The intention
was to let him gain some more experience in a less high-profile team where the
pressure was not as big as it was with the Benetton team. Verstappen impressed
a lot of people by being very quick with what was known to be an inferior car.
Unfortunately the car was totally unreliable so a twelfth place was the best
result that could be achieved. After a sponsor failed to fulfil its obligations
the team was forced to close after the Monaco Grand Prix. This forced him to
sit on the sidelines. The only driving Verstappen did was some testing for Benetton
and Ligier.
Simtek Formula One - 5 races - 12th place in
Barcelona
1996
After the disastrous 1995 season Verstappen had
to get his career back on track. With the help of his loyal sponsors he was
able to make a deal with the Arrows team, then part owned by Tom Walkinshaw.
At the start of the season Verstappen put in some remarkable results with Arrows.
He got his best result of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix where he got
both his best qualifying and his best race result of the season. He qualified
seventh and finished in sixth position after a great fight with David Coulthard
and Eddie Irvine.
Definitely the sporting highlight of the year
must have been his appearance at the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort. Verstappen
delighted a record crowd of 85,000 people with a demonstration run in his Arrows.
The result was a new track record of 51.684s and the crowd went mad with enthusiasm.
In May that year he married his fiance Sophie
Kumpen.
Footwork Arrows Formula One - sixth place Argentina,
One World Championship point
1997
Verstappen moved to the experienced Tyrrell team
completing a full Formula One season.
Tyrrell-Ford Formula One - 17 races, eighth place
1998
Verstappen replaced Jan Magnussen in the Stewart
team for the French Grand Prix after testing with his new team-mate Rubens Barrichello
at Magny-Cours before the race. The Stewart-Ford car was very unreliable all
season. Verstappen only finished 4 out of the 9 races.
Stewart-Ford - 9 races
1999
Formula One Test Driver for Honda Racing Development.
2000
Signed for Arrows Formula One Grand Prix team.
2001
Re-signed for Arrows Formula One Grand Prix team.