News of Max Verstappen His victory at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix was achieved as a result of Jos Verstappen While seated inside a rally car on the way to achieving victory in the European Rally Championship.

The past weekend saw dual triumphs for the Verstappen clan with Max securing a dominant victory from pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix, followed by his father Jos winning the Masters Class at the Rally Sierra Morena in Spain on the tarmac roads.

The Rally Sierra Morena was notable for marking Jos Verstappen’s inaugural appearance in the European Rally Championship. This race served as the starting point of a strategic three-year initiative aimed at competing within the championship, following his transition to rallying in 2022 from the Netherlands.

During the competition, Jos closely monitored his son's performance in Japan and managed to catch some of Sunday's race before getting into his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 vehicle to start Saturday’s early set of stages. At the conclusion of stage seven, he received news about Max’s victory from ERC TV crew members.

We were observing it right before the stage, but I missed the final 14 laps, so it's great [that he has won]," stated Jos Verstappen. "While this [victory] benefited me, Max's win holds greater significance.

Jos Verstappen and his co-driver Renaud Jamoul put forth a remarkable display during the demanding stages of Sierra Morena. After leading as one of the fastest duos following the first stage, they ultimately secured 13th place overall, with Nikolay Gryazin emerging as the victorious driver at the end of the event.

The fifty-three-year-old Verstappen claimed the first-ever ERC Masters Class win - designed for competitors over 50 years old and newly added to the series for the 2025 season – finishing ahead of Andras Hadik with a margin of 2 minutes and 31.2 seconds.

Jos Verstappen, Renaud Jamoul, Škoda Fabia Evo R2

Photo courtesy of: Red Bull Content Pool

It's great to win the Masters class, but that wasn't our main objective," Verstappen said. "Our aim was to narrow the gap with the leading drivers, which proved challenging.

But I should mention several aspects I'm satisfied with; however, there are numerous areas requiring significant improvement and learning. We ought to participate in more events like this one, filled with detailed checkpoints and complex turns—that’s where our focus lies for enhancement. This is precisely why we're present today. We refuse to surrender as it only fuels my determination, and success is surely within reach.

It's an intermediate checklist; things are spread out quite a bit. There isn’t just one item, as plenty of details are included in the notes. I’m capable of processing all this data, yet it comes down to gradually improving at events like these – focusing here should be our priority.

Verstappen will move from tarmac to dirt as the ERC makes its way to Hungary for the second round from 9-11 May.

Using gravel is different, but we mentioned that the initial year is focused on acquiring knowledge and gaining experience," he stated. "In the following year, ideally, we should improve somewhat, and then assess in the future whether we become more competitive.

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