Jos Verstappen openly reflects in the podcast Formula 1 Paddock Talk on his late entry into the rally world. The former Formula 1 driver wonders aloud what might have been possible if he had made the switch earlier. “Then I would have set the bar a little higher.”
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“If I could do it again, I would have preferred to start ten years earlier,” Verstappen says. “I started at about 49 now. It would have been more fun if I had started at 39, because then we could have done this longer.” The love for rally sport had been there for a long time, but the right moment took its time.
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With the wisdom of now, Verstappen even dares to say that he would have set the bar higher if he had started earlier. Now he is also aware of the influence of his age. “It doesn’t make you better. Certainly not faster,” he says soberly, while emphasizing how impressive it is that he can still compete with younger, more experienced rally drivers.
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The reason the switch didn’t come earlier had everything to do with priorities. “But it also wasn’t possible, because I was very busy with Max then. And you have to set priorities somewhere,” Verstappen says with a wink. “I’m glad I did it that way.”
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