Jos predicts a ‘nice five years’ ahead for Max Verstappen at Red Bull

Henry Valantine
Jos and Max Verstappen arriving at the track. Jeddah, March 2022.

Jos and Max Verstappen arrived at the track for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Jeddah, March 2022.

Max Verstappen could be in for a fruitful medium term at Red Bull if the team continue on their current trajectory, according to his father Jos.

The 25-year-old wrapped up his second consecutive World Championship with four races to spare last time out at Suzuka, taking a comfortable victory in a rain-affected Japanese Grand Prix.

That moved him level with Fernando Alonso for the number of titles (two) and race wins (32) in their possession, with Verstappen having taken to the top step at 12 of the 18 races so far this season.

He could level the all-time one-season win record at Austin this weekend, but any further success from here on in simply puts more gloss on what has been a dominant year for the Red Bull driver.

His father Jos, formerly an F1 driver himself, believes the pack will tighten in 2023 as the sport’s new regulations begin to level out the field, but given how well his son has been performing and how strong Red Bull’s car looks on track, he has backed Max for further success.

“The rules will remain largely the same, the field will therefore come closer together and we will have better races,” Verstappen senior explained, quoted by talkSPORT.

“But the strongest driver always floats to the top. If Red Bull continue like this, we will certainly have a nice five years.”

Bars opened early in the morning in the Netherlands as Verstappen fans watched events unfold from Suzuka last time out, with their champion crowned in unusual circumstances after the race, given the five-second penalty applied to Charles Leclerc afterwards.

But despite the anti-climax surrounding his son’s victory, Jos enjoyed seeing the contrast in how soon he was able to seal the title this time after the controversial events of last year.

“I’m usually on site but I’ve been travelling for quite a while and entering Japan wasn’t the easiest,” he said of not being able to attend at Suzuka.

“The pressure last year became unbearable and when it was all over, we were overcome with incredibly powerful emotions.

“It was very different this year as we knew the title would come sooner or later, we just didn’t know when.”

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