How Jos Verstappen rates the performance of his son Max Verstappen in the 2023 Formula 1 season and what the junior could still achieve in the future
Max Verstappen has only failed to win three of the 22 Formula 1 races in 2023. The Red Bull driver therefore secured his third world championship title in superior style. And father Jos Verstappen says: “It doesn’t get any better than this!”
His son has had a “simply incredible” year. “There was only one weekend where it didn’t work out: Singapore. Everything else was great,” says Jos Verstappen, a former Formula 1 driver himself.
Unlike his son, however, Jos Verstappen never drove a competitive car for a full season from 1994 to 2003, but with the exception of his ten races for Benetton in 1994, he mostly drove in classic back-bench teams.
Does Max Verstappen even overtake Michael Schumacher?
That’s why Jos Verstappen knows from his own experience that routine and “a good car” are the key success factors in Formula 1. And if Red Bull can continue to offer his son a fast car, then perhaps the world championship record that Michael Schumacher once set with seven titles will be shaken.
After three titles, Max Verstappen is already “very close” to the attitude that Schumacher had in Formula 1, says Jos Verstappen. He therefore believes his son is capable of winning a few more world championship titles.
“To do that, you need the luck of being in a good car in the coming years,” explains Jos Verstappen. “Because you can only do it if the material is right. But if the material is right, then he can do it. “
Why Verstappen’s winning streak looks “easy “
In purely driving terms, Max Verstappen is now beyond any doubt, says father Verstappen. “He used to only get maybe a handful of chances a year. He had to do crazy things to take advantage of those opportunities. But that’s no longer necessary.”
Because on the one hand, the Red Bull is the dominant car in Formula 1, and on the other, Max Verstappen himself has also matured. He also has “the right people around him”, emphasizes Jos Verstappen. “But you also create that kind of environment yourself. You choose the people you want to work with. “
All this makes it look “easy”, but behind every winning streak is a lot of personal commitment from everyone involved, according to Jos Verstappen. “Despite everything, you have to be there weekend after weekend. It’s the details that make the difference,” he says.
Son Max doesn’t need any more advice
Jos Verstappen had already trained his son Max accordingly in karting. “But you actually live in the present and only look back from time to time. But yes, we laid the foundations back then. But what we see now is that Max is continuing to develop himself.”
Max Verstappen is now better than Jos Verstappen ever was. That is why the father is wary of giving his son advice. “Those days are over,” says Jos Verstappen with a grin.
“But I tell him what I see. For example, if I notice a maneuver that I think was on the limit, then I talk to him about it. That’s a good thing between us: we’re very honest with each other. And Max is straightforward about things like that. “
