Jos Verstappen, the father of double world champion Max, was once shockingly accused of beating up his own father, Frans. Although Jos has not been short of controversies, this is yet arguably one of the most serious allegations against him.
The incident is believed to have occurred in 2016 in the 51-year-old’s hometown of Montford in the Netherlands. Moreover, the complaint is believed to have been filed by Frans himself.
Jos Verstappen was once accused of beating up his own father
According to De Telegraaf, Jos Verstappen was accused of beating up Frans shortly after a frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix back in 2016. Frans said of the incident (as quoted by gptoday.com), “We’ve seen before that Jos has loose hands, but this was the limit. Jos is very bad-tempered”.
Frans made these shocking allegations against his own son after showing several wounds and bruises on his head and body. However, soon after he made the complaint, Limburg broadcaster L1 reported that Frans had withdrawn it.
🗣️ | Jos Verstappen denies he ‘abused’ Max:
“There are people who say I’m a bad father because I abused my child, I never abused him!”
“I raised him, I was hard on him. That was my plan, many people cannot imagine what it takes to reach the absolute top level of a sport.” pic.twitter.com/xaXW1Hd5eS
— Max Verstappen News (@MV_Updates) April 5, 2023
Jos once almost landed in jail as well
As per Autosport.com, Jos Verstappen once almost landed in jail after being deemed guilty of assault by a Belgian court back in 2000. The report claimed that the Dutchman had fractured the victim’s skull during a go-karting incident.
The report added that since Jos reached an out-of-court financial agreement with the victim, he received a much lighter sentence. As per Belgian law, defendants can receive a lighter punishment if they agree with the victim.
Had Jos not reached such an agreement, he most likely would have landed up in jail. However, the ruling clearly stated that for Jos to avoid jailing, he needed to stay out of trouble for five years.
While this was the only time Jos was deemed guilty, it is pertinent to note that he has been accused of assault on several occasions, including that of his ex-wife Sophie Kumpen (Max’s mother). As per The Sun, Jos was arrested in December 2008 for the alleged assault of Kumpen.
While the Dutchman was cleared of the assault charges, he was deemed guilty of sending threatening messages. As a result of these messages, he was fined and sentenced to three months probation.
