The degree to which Jos Verstappen's own Formula 1 disappointment fuelled everything he poured into son Max Verstappen's preparation is already part of motorsport folklore. Yet, the element that often gets overlooked now is how good Jos's own career was supposed to be, with a brief period when excitement over his prospects as a future champion matched the hype surrounding Max's arrival in 2015.
As explored in the F1 Rewind podcast series with Edd Straw and Mark Hughes, a test for Footwork at Estoril in late September 1993 truly initiated this massive wave of attention. Only two years out of karting and having just won the German Formula 3 title, the 21-year-old set a lap time that would have placed his middling car 10th on the grid for the previous Portuguese Grand Prix.
While track evolution played a part, the impression left by his overall performance was enormous, earning him the cover slot on Autosport magazine as F1's hottest new boy. Edd Straw noted that it is easy to underestimate the massive impact that specific test truly made if one did not experience it firsthand back then.
Mark Hughes emphasized that Jos was a seriously hot property at the time, coming straight from karting and dominating championships while teams were falling over themselves to secure a long-term contract. He was viewed as the potential next Michael Schumacher or Mika Hakkinen, with intense interest coming from McLaren, Ferrari, and Benetton alike.
Edd Straw added that such a rapid ascent from karting to F1 in just two years was extremely rare for that era. This combination of incredible raw speed and a rocketship trajectory to the pinnacle of motorsport made Jos Verstappen the definitive name everyone expected to win races and claim world titles.
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