Jos Verstappen, the man responsible for developing Max Verstappen into arguably one of the best race drivers of all time, enjoyed watching his son lap his arch-rival, Lewis Hamilton, on his way to a resounding and masterful victory at Imola on Sunday.
Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Verstappen junior cleaned up the maximum points on offer at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, which included the first Sprint Race for which he bagged eight points, then the race win and fastest lap meant a grand slam of 26 more points.
So much so that sites listed on BettingSpesialisten have ramped up the odds for Verstappen to retain his title while Leclerc’s odds took a knock on the weekend.
No mistakes on a perfect weekend it can be said of the 24-year-old who now lies second in the F1 championship standings after the fourth round, a proper ambush on Ferrari home soil, silencing the expectant Tifosi as the Reds simply had no answer to Red Bull on the day.
Writing for the Verstappen.nl website Jos said of his boy’s weekend in Italy: “Max had an excellent weekend in Imola. I found him incredibly strong. He didn’t make a single mistake, was solid and completely in control. Red Bull clearly made a step in the right direction. Of course, we knew the car would get an upgrade in Italy, but with the weather conditions it was hard to make a comparison. But we can definitely conclude that we’ve become stronger.”
Verstappen’s ‘Ambush at Imola’ began when he beat pre-qualifying favourite Leclerc to pole on Friday and then outfoxed Ferrari to win the Sprint Race after stalking Leclerc for most of the 21 laps before pouncing to again snatch glory from the Reds.
Jos: In Italy, Max and Red Bull put Ferrari under pressure
Jos takes up the story: “Saturday during the sprint race, we saw the first glimpses of this. Max caught up with Charles. It meant Ferrari had to push harder, forcing them to use the tires more.
“In Italy, Max and Red Bull put Ferrari under pressure, and when under pressure, it’s easy to make a mistake. If you are effortlessly leading, that chance is a lot smaller. It turned out to be a perfect weekend for Max.”
Notably, while Red Bull continue to be a benchmark team, their former rivals Mercedes have crashed badly this year with a useless car doing Lewis Hamilton and George Russell no favours.
Nevertheless, digging deep Russell soldiered on to finish fourth for the Silver Arrows, Hamilton struggled to 13th stuck at the wrong end of the midfield unable to extract what his younger teammate could from the Mercedes W13, adding insult to injury lapped by his nemesis Max at one point in the race.
A memorable moment Jos admitted: “Honestly, I did enjoy seeing Max lap Hamilton, after everything that happened last year. Hamilton really had a tough time, whereas his teammate George Russell seemed to be more balanced. It’s not often you have the opportunity to lap a Mercedes.”
Max Verstappen was also awarded the 2022 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
The Laureus was an unexpected but much-appreciated accolade that Jos acknowledged: “I never really thought about it, but I must admit I find it rather special.
“It is a big honour: he is the first Dutch person to achieve this award. We can safely assume that Max belongs to the biggest athletes The Netherlands has ever had.
“Only on Monday I found out that he thanked me, especially in his speech. I am very touched by this beautiful gesture,” said Verstappen senior.
As for his own rally exploits, Jos revealed: “I’m driving my third rally in Belgium during the second weekend of May. I look forward to that. I’ll be driving with a new navigator, Dutchman Harm van Koppen.
“I am curious to see how it will go. I recently had surgery on my eyes and now have lens implants and my brain has to adjust to these. Apparently, it takes a bit longer when you’re older as opposed to younger…” concluded Verstappen.