Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, underwent heart surgery in 2023

World Champion Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen faced health complications in 2023 amid a record-breaking season for his son, who took his third championship.

Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, underwent heart surgery in 2023

Max Verstappen and Jose Versatppen (Via IMAGO)

Jos Verstappen is widely known in the F1 community, primarily for raising and harboring his son Max Verstappen’s talent from a young age. Jos encouraged his son to move rapidly up the ranks of motorsport and Max eventually reached the pinnacle of motorsport at 17.

Jos Verstappen has been a frequent face at the Red Bull paddock for the Grands Prix in 2023 but had a health scare earlier this year. The 51-year-old Dutchman reportedly had heart surgery earlier this year, which was a harrowing experience for the former F1 driver.

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It's annoying what I had, but now I'm fully fit again. An operation on your heart is always exciting, you are then dependent on other people and that is never nice.
Jos Verstappen said, as reported by gpblog.com

Despite the health issues that Jos Verstappen faced, he could not let go of racing. The two-time F1 podium finisher proved that the winner’s blood ran through both his and his son’s veins, as he participated in the Belgian and Spanish rallying championships. Jos managed to prevail at a rally during this stint, taking his first-ever victory in the category.

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Max Verstappen reveals areas to improve on for Red Bull in 2024

Red Bull in 2023 gave their fans little to be desired as they claimed a near-clean sweep of the season, foiled only once by Carlos Sainz in Singapore. Red Bull was flying far ahead of the rest of the field, led by Max Verstappen all year at the helm of the Adrian Newey-designed RB19. 

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

The vehicle claimed 21/22 wins in 2023, even without drastic upgrades further made to improve it. However, even such a dominant vehicle has its weaknesses, as Max Verstappen pointed out. The three-time Champion said that the RB19 still did have some trouble in low-speed corners and on curbs, as demonstrated in street circuits. Singapore was a prime example of this, as neither Red Bull driver was able to finish on the podium.

Of course there are [weaknesses]. Look at our race weekend in Singapore. In general, on street circuits, I think we are struggling a bit more, like in Vegas also. Low-speed is definitely not our strongest point in the car, [going over] bumps, kerbs as well, so that’s definitely a big area where we can improve.
Max Verstappen said, as reported by F1.com.

Red Bull does have a huge headstart on their competitors though, having begun development of their 2024 challenger earlier in the year than the rest. Red Bull will be hoping for results similar to 2023, even amid driver market chaos for their second seat alongside Max Verstappen coming next year.

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