Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Shanghai, 2018

Verstappen wasn’t to blame for his troubles in 2018 – Jos

2018 F1 season

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Max Verstappen’s troubled start to his 2018 campaign was not self-inflicted according to his father, former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen.

Speaking to his son’s official website, Jos said other people had “made a problem out of things” when asked about the series of incidents Verstappen was involved in during the opening races of last year.

“I discuss everything with Max, including during his tough time,” he said. “I don’t think there was anything wrong. It was really the outside world that made a problem out of things.

“Maybe the conversation after Monaco was hard but if you see how he picked it up from there and how he starts this year, it’s perfect.”

Among the incidents Verstappen was involved in at the start of the year were collisions with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain and China. He also crashed during practice in Monaco, while team mate Daniel Ricciardo took pole position and won the race.

Monaco proved to be a turning point for Verstappen, who went on to enjoy a successful campaign. His father said he doesn’t intend to change anything in how he supports his son.

“It’ll be the same as before. I don’t have to be here all the time to tell him what to do; he knows that better than me. But it’s the small things. I don’t tell him what to do, but I talk to him about what I see. That’s more than enough.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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41 comments on “Verstappen wasn’t to blame for his troubles in 2018 – Jos”

  1. Jos said other people had “made a problem out of things”

    Cough.

    1. As Dutchie i understand what he is saying but if others understand this i don’t think so.

      Atleast Monaco was the turning point as he saw pushing all the time isn’t the answer…

  2. This reminds me of a photo I took some time ago:
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/vDRKaZqDZJzQfvru8

  3. Well, it is for his own website, and by Jo’s I guess, so eh.

    Still, feels symptomatic of a problem I see, especially in the Dutch autosport media where Max Verstappen can almost do no wrong. I keep hoping that Red Bull at least call him on his Bull when needed, but there is little evidence of that.

    We have to hope Max has the self-awareness to keep himself grounded, if not in words to the outside, than at least, and most importantly, on track.

    1. @bosyber If Red Bull’s handling of the Vettel/Webber relationship is anything to go by…

      1. This. +1

        1. Well it’s not SV/MW and I’m pretty sure behind closed doors they called him on his bull at Monaco last year. Jos implies that. I think all he means by the outside world being the problem is that suddenly everyone was an armchair expert that was advising him to change completely, and that was never on. Of course Max was responsible for his own actions and he seems to have owned that by upping his game post-Monaco.

  4. Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
    5th March 2019, 7:50

    Max was horrible at the start of the season. Spun in Australia, costing him a shot at the podium, bumped into Lewis which was unneeded and cost him another good result, lost the rear trying to pass Lewis which was an impossible move, crashed into Vettel through no fault of Seb’s, his defense was all over the place in Baku which potentially resulted in the crash, and hit the barriers on Monaco costing him a possible pole and win.

    Sure he improved after those events but I think (as always) that his father and the Dutch media go way too easy on him. He looked like an amateur and he deserves each ounce of criticism he received.

    1. And he still did better then other drivers I a way faster car :)
      So judge a driver by all his performances and not only the lesser ones.

      1. And he still did better then other drivers I a way faster car :) – Still in denial, huh. Who did he outperform in those five mentoned races? He didn’t even do better than drivers in slower cars. He even got passed by drivers in F1B-cars and couldn’t repass them; the only driver with a top-3 car in 2018 who managed to do that :-))))))))))

    2. I think this is true and well said. Except for the part that Dutch media and his father go way too easy on him, which is in my opinion not true at all. It is the fans that go easy on him and so it should be because that is what fans are for.

    3. @panagiotism-papatheodorou
      I think (as always) that his father and the Dutch media go way too easy on him. He looked like an amateur and he deserves each ounce of criticism he received. – Absolutely true. And his defence wasn’t just all over the place and potentially cost the crash, it was illegal and wás the cause of the crash. And RB covered for him.

      And do you know why the dutch media go way too easy on him? Because they’re not independent. They are just like his father, (family) friends.

    4. Crashing into Raikkonen was definitely his fault. Absurd that Jos Verstappen excuses him from that incident at least. Definitely amateur level. The rest of the incidents were a mixed bunch, ranging between fortunate, unfortunate, unwise and plain dumb. Overall it’s easy to spot Verstappen’s strengths, aggressive ability and speed, and his one fatal flaw – the latter being his need to make any pass he makes ‘definitive.’ That cost him with the Hamilton and Ocon collisions. It seems to me he’s also marginally faster than Hamilton (the current benchmark in F1 drivers) with a bit less precision – maybe that slight extra speed comes with being slightly less accurate in his track positioning. All in all, though, if his father is going to tell him not to learn anything from last season, it’ll be another difficult one this. My bet is still on Leclerc being world champion before Verstappen, he’s just a more mature (better) driver right now.

      1. Most revealing, to me, was his refusal to let Bottas through even though he knew that he was going to lose time, places and points by driving defensively. Effectively, he compromised his own race because he was miffed at the stewards correct decision to penalise him for not leaving enough track room for Bottas at the chicane.

      2. @david-br

        Crashing into Raikkonen was definitely his fault.

        Uh, when did he crash into Räikkönen? Not in 2018, I think. I also see do not see Jos mentioning a crash with Räikkönen …

    5. @panagiotism-papatheodorou

      In Australia he had floor damage making the car undrivable, he tried, he spun, can happen.

      Check back how many stupid mistakes Hamilton and Vettel have made over the years.

      People nowadays expect perfection or something…if anything Max was overdriving the car in an effort to keep up with the big teams. Could have sat back and not pushed…

  5. I agree with Jos, his image as an all or nothing racer will really pay off this year when going wheel to wheel.

  6. And we wonder where Max’s entitled attitude to his racing comes from….

    As a parent myself I understand the temptation to say your son is in the right 100% of the time, but it’s your duty as a parent to be even handed in praise and when you rebuke them. Max was to blame for those incidents at the start of the season, part of growing up is knowing when to take responsibility for your actions.

    Max did turn the season round in great style though and this story really fell by the wayside, so the question that was asked of Jos and the response he gave just seems mistimed.

    1. georgeboole (@)
      5th March 2019, 21:06

      Somebody has to tell Max’s father that that guy Jos is not good for his son…

      @geemac Besides fun, as a father myself too I totally agree with the attitude Jos should have. Sometimes it feels like Max is more mature than Jos.

    2. Max wasn’t to blame for all those incidents, Melbourne was damaged car overdriving….his error but hey…..

      Collision with LH was more LH fault he should have conceded the corner earlier and backed off, he expected Rosberg to do it, so he should have done the same.

      Monaco his fault, 100%

      People tend to forget how many errrors LH did early on…especially when his car wasn’t as fast and he then had to overdrive. 2011 season clashes with Massa….
      Or him losing the title in 2007 when he beached it on entry to the pits, almost losing the title again in 2008……

  7. To some extent, yes, I agree, but not entirely. Some of them at least were his fault.

    1. Some of them at least were his fault. – ALL of those incidents were his fault. Own up man. Or are you blaming Ericsson?

  8. georgeboole (@)
    5th March 2019, 10:15

    Of course it was not his fault. Ocon hit him.
    Oh wait…are we talking about the whole season?

    I keep thinking Jos is a bad influence on his son. Sure you have to boost his morale every time but that keeps getting ridiculus. Admitting your mistakes and learning from them is part of the process that makes you win the championship at the end.

    1. @georgeboole I get the feeling Jos never learned from a lot of his mistakes.

    2. Without Jos there would be no max.
      So his father is a integral part of the deal.
      And read the interview in the context. He stated max had to take risks to compensate for the lack of power.
      Driving in front after a fast qualifying prevent a lot risks.

      1. F1oSaurus (@)
        5th March 2019, 18:24

        He stated max had to take risks to compensate for the lack of power.

        Indeed Jos is wrong ont that one too. Both Jos and Max (and Vettel for that matter) need to learn that that claim is nonsense. Taking more risk just gets drivers into trouble.

      2. georgeboole (@)
        5th March 2019, 20:56

        So that states even stronger that Max should calculate his options. And his father should teach him that crashing is not one of them. He has the experience. But he does not want it.
        Anyway I am with Hamilton on the whole Max story. Max always had more to lose than anyone he crashed onto.

  9. Melchior (@)
    5th March 2019, 10:31

    Jos said other people had “made a problem out of things”
    Yeah….They just wouldn’t get out of his way

  10. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    5th March 2019, 12:26

    Have to admit I thought he was fairly terrible at the start of the year. Probably a little unlucky – a lot of seemingly being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and some were mistakes and misjudgements all of his own doing. But he turned it around in such a way that the second half of the year he was probably one of the best drivers on track. Didn’t he outscore everyone except Hamilton? First half – messy. Second half – brilliant.

    I think Verstappen has to accept the good and bad there. His dad banging on that it wasn’t him I don’t think’s very helpful, as some of it absolutley was.

    1. Agree as I imply in a post above.

  11. If he starts winning, all will be forgotten. But much depends on how he will handle Gasly, who must realize that his choices are either to perform or be diminished and dropped at first opportunity. And to perform against Verstappen will not be easy, because he is pretty good racer and the chosen one at Red Bull. That relationship is not going to be easy.

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      5th March 2019, 18:24

      He did win races, but he could have won 3 more.

  12. Anyone think this year VER will be any more level headed than last? Hell, he went off the rails with another contestant playing a F1 game. It’s his nature and he won’t change.

    He will not only have VET and HAM to contend with this year, LEC, another rising star, will be in the picture and he is not afraid to battle it out. VER could be displaced as the second coming of Senna.

    We will see how he holds up in those circumstances coupled with the fact the Honda engine may not be there just yet.
    The pressure will be more intense.

    1. I’ve seen a lot of people do what Verstappen did when someone deliberately hinders you when you are trying to set a good time (because you are famous). Only in the case of Verstappen it gets blown out of proportion.

  13. MaliceCooper
    5th March 2019, 18:38

    It was all Ericsson’s fault

  14. Thanks dad!

    1. and Dad, thanks for giving me your bad temperament. Has helped a lot, not.

  15. Dear Jos: You will suffer.

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