3 days ago
Max Verstappen's dad Jos' car flips over in rally crash as health update issued
Former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen still partakes in rally racing at the age of 53 but suffered a crash which saw his Skoda Fabia roll over in Sweden on Friday
Jos Verstappen managed to escape unharmed after rolling over his car in a rally event. The former Formula 1 driver, father of four-time champion Max Verstappen, suffered the accident while competing at the Royal Rally of Scandinavia in Sweden this weekend.
Aged 53, he continues to partake in several rally events. And, instead of travelling to Barcelona to cheer on his son at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, Jos headed to Sweden for the latest round of the FIA European Rally Championship.
Things started well and Verstappen, along with co-driver Renaud Jamoul, were leading the Master classification and 18th overall in the rally when disaster struck on stage nine and the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 rolled over, cracking the windscreen along with other damage to the car.
But it has been confirmed that neither Verstappen nor Jamoul were injured in the accident. Despite that escape, they elected not to continue with the rally this weekend, leading to their first DNF of 2025.
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Speaking after the crash, Verstappen said: "I think I went a little bit too quick into the corner and then I missed the apex, the inside of the corner, I was in the loose gravel, on full grass and I couldn't make the corner.
"The rear wheels went into the ditch and the car rolled. Very easy to happen in this kind of rally. It happens, from what I have seen on the videos, a lot. It was a typical Sweden roll. I flipped it and I was back on the four wheels.
"The roll cage is all fine but the front was a little bit damaged, there was some rear damage and one damper was broken. Because Poland is coming so quickly and my feeling wasn't that good in the car in this particular rally so we want to check everything instead of keep going. Every crash should be a lesson but it's a typical thing for here."
Though Verstappen Snr is no stranger to rallying, he is not so familiar with gravel tracks like the one he crashed on in Varmland, Sweden, on Friday. He was making only his third ever start on gravel and his first on a loose-surface event at high speed.
But despite the unwelcome end to his weekend, he said: "I must say I really enjoyed it, the way of driving. Obviously these people from these countries they used to that, the only driving they do is on these kind of stages. For sure, and definitely at my age, if I have to change the style after 45 years of racing it's not so easy.
"It's a completely different thing and of course the age doesn't help. But I really enjoy it, I can also enjoy from the people in front how they're pushing and things like that. I'm happy what I see and hopefully I can improve a little bit more."
