Jos Verstappen, father of four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, has been involved in a crash in the European Rally Championship.

Fortunately, the 53-year-old and his co-driver Renaud Jamoul were confirmed to have escaped unscathed after being involved in a rollover crash in Sweden.

The third round of the FIA campaign headed to Sweden for ERC BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia, for the event which ran from May 29 to 31, where Verstappen and Jamoul rolled their Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 car on Friday, bringing an abrupt end to their running in SS8.

The duo’s special stage concluded with significant damage to their no. 6 car, with images shared by the FIA on social media revealing a smashed windscreen on the Skoda.

Verstappen’s first running on the tricky Scandinavian roads took place on Thursday, when the Dutchman finished 15th in the qualifying stage, and was classified 13th in the first competitive stage.

Speaking ahead of his crash on Friday, Verstappen said: “These are fast gravel stages. It looks great… but the stages are also demanding. You need a lot of confidence. There’s less grip than we expected, but it’s very beautiful and we learn a lot by driving here.”

Despite the pair’s retirement, Verstappen currently sits 12th in the ERC standings and having been confirmed to be ok by the FIA, is due to return to the gravel track for the last day of the stage on Saturday, May 31.

Verstappen gets back on track as father returns to rally stage

Elsewhere in the Verstappen family, reigning F1 champion Max is taking part in qualifying for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix whilst his father picks himself up for the final day of the third ERC stage of the season.

Both Verstappens have a challenge ahead of them this weekend with Max eager to round off F1’s European triple-header with another win having stood on the top step of the podium in Imola two race weekends ago.

The 27-year-old has battled his RB21 all year long often lamenting the driveability of his F1 machinery with the team which have delivered a championship-winning car for the Dutchman for four consecutive years.

This season however, Verstappen faces fierce competition as McLaren’s 2024 success has continued into 2025, with the papaya outfit storming ahead in the constructors’ standings and their driver duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both ahead of Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a track where Verstappen has fared well across his impressive F1 career, holding the lap record of 1:16.330 which he set at the track in 2023.

It was at this very track that he won the Spanish GP on debut for Red Bull in 2016, becoming the youngest-ever driver to win a grand prix, with Verstappen in need of a similar result this weekend to close the gap to either McLaren drivers in the championship if he wants to have any chance of retaining the F1 title.