Max Verstappen’s father Jos explains serious rally crash he escaped unhurt
Jos Verstappen was unhurt in a serious crash during a rally event in Belgium.
Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, escaped unhurt from a serious rally crash in Belgium.
Verstappen Sr was contesting the Loyers special stage of the Rallye de Wallonie on Sunday when he lost control of his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and hit a tree.
Both the father of four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen and his co-driver Jasper Vermeulen were able to walk away from the violent incident unscathed, the event confirmed on its social media channels.
The car came to rest overturned with a wheel ripped clean off and substantial damage throughout.
Verstappen Sr had been running in third place at the time of the collision, which forced him and Vermeulen to withdraw.
The 54-year-old Dutchman had been competing without his usual co-driver Renaud Jamoul, who was unavailable while he recovers from surgery on an ankle injury.
"It was a right-hand bend that I had to take in fourth gear. It was dusty, there was gravel on the surface," Verstappen told the Belgian Rally Championship's Instagram channel.
"I think I went into the corner a bit too fast, and at the end of the corner, the car broke away. Then we hit a post. The post whipped the car around, and then we landed on the roof.
"The most important thing is that Jasper and I came out of the car safely. It was a big impact. But we sit in such safe cars, that shows again. I'm glad we came out of it well."
Verstappen’s son will return to F1 action at this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix following a five-week gap in the calendar after the cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the Iran War.
Verstappen’s future in F1 remains in the spotlight after the Red Bull driver admitted he could walk away from the championship at the end of the season due to his dissatisfaction with the 2026 rules.
During the enforced April break, F1 announced a raft of rule tweaks that will be implemented from this weekend’s race in Miami in an attempt to appease driver concerns.
It remains to be seen whether it will be enough to convince Verstappen to stick around for 2027 and beyond.
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