Max Verstappen continues to make history in Formula 1 since he reached his fourth consecutive title con Red Bull after finish fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The 27-year-old runner settled the lawsuit over Lando Norris (McLaren) having finished ahead of the Englishman (6th). Although in the second part of the year the English team was the benchmark, the Dutchman capitalized on the seven victories in the first half of the year and his knockout was his victory in Brazil, in the rain, and after starting 16th.
The reign of the bastion of Red Bull started in 2021 when he prevailed in the title match against Lewis Hamilton. There were warnings in 2020, but what was demonstrated three years ago was a ratification of its conductive level and the weapon it had with an impeller Honda who showed his best version since he began motoring for the Austrian team in 2019. The Dutchman already marked milestones in the Máxima by breaking several precocity records, in 2021 he went for everything and achieved it: this is his story.
He was born on September 30, 1997 in Hasselt, a city in the east of Belgium and 40 minutes from the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit, where 30 years ago Michael Schumacher debuted in F1, who in 1994 was a teammate at Benetton If VerstappenMax’s father, who that season achieved his only two podiums in the category. His mother, Sophie Kumpenalso raced and shone in karting. Raised in the environment, it was obvious that he was going to dedicate himself to motor racing. He inherited from his father his strong personality, charisma and always going to the end. But his talent is superior and made him reach the big circus before anyone else in F1’s 74 years of history.
At the age of four he got into a karting where he began to shine and in 2013 he was world champion in the KZ class (125 cm3 engines)something that is a very precious diamond for many runners. Winning the World Championship of the International Karting Commission (CIK) of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) is a distinction because it is the highest expression in the school of motorsport, due to the parity, level and number of competitors. That ecumenical kart scepter was the one he always wanted to obtain Ayrton Senna and he could not, despite his attempts, until he was 22 years old.
It was in karting where the great rivalry that is coming in F1 began, his duel with Charles Leclerc (born 10/16/1997), current Ferrari stronghold. One of his many rounds occurred in a race in the European winter competition in 2012 (video), where Max led until the last lap and accused the Monegasque of a touch that took him off the circuit. Charles ignored what happened and since then responded without controversy. That day both were excluded, but Leclerc ended up staying in the tournament. Then Verstappen had revenge and won the aforementioned karting World Cup.
Through his father he became a Dutch national and confirmed that he was a champion of the future. The Red Bull bosses had their eye on him and he was incorporated into their driver development program. In 2014, at the age of 16, he debuted in monopostos and raced in the European Formula 3. He came fourth in his first race, got a podium in the third, won the pole position in the fifth, and his first combination of pole plus victory in the sixth. He achieved nine more wins and finished third in the championship. He also won the Zandvoort Mastera classic F3 race that takes place in its country.
That season, when he had just turned 17, Max got into an F1 car. It was with a Red Bull (current Alpha Tauri, Red Bull satellite team) in one of the practices prior to the Japanese Grand Prix. With the aforementioned team, the kid’s dream came true: He was the youngest driver to debut in the specialty, when he did so at the age of 17 years and 166 days in Australia in 2015. He is also the youngest to win a Grand Prix, a merit he achieved in Spain in 2016, at the age of 18 years, 7 months. and 16 days. That day was his debut in the Red Bull team and it was the first of his ten victories in the category.
From his first races in the Máxima he showed his aggressiveness and that did not sit well with several of his colleagues. But that driving style was accompanied by precision. It is true that he made mistakes, but they were more sins of youth than a lack of professionalism or wanting to hurt a colleague on purpose. On the subject, in an interview with Infobae At the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, he assured that “People want to see attitude on the court and I try to give it to them”.
Since his beginnings in F1 and as a teenager, he competed against everyone equally. It doesn’t matter who was in front, be it Hamilton or someone at the back of the pack. It was always played for the spectacle and in times where the technical factor is increasingly predominant, Max delivers glimpses of the human factor because he showed in previous seasons what he can do without having the best car..
He earned his place and became the best behind the two Mercedes drivers in 2019 and 2020. His maturation was key despite his young age. Also the advancement of Honda impellers. Despite the dominance of German cars, between 2014 and 2020, and the monologue of Hamiltonwhenever he could Max struck and took advantage of every opportunity. This multiplied his followers and today he is one of the most popular runners on the entire planet.
In the Netherlands, an orange tide was generated that burst the Zandvoort Autodrome since 2021, when F1 returned to its country after 36 years and in which Max achieved one of his nine wins that season. Tickets sell out long in advance since his emergence in the Máxima promoted a national fury comparable to the best moments of his soccer team in the World Cups.
Max also led a young guard made up of promises who are idols of today and some of them will be the champions of the coming years like himself. Leclerc, Lando Norris (25 years / McLaren) or George Russell (26 / Williams), Esteban Ocon (28 / Alpine), Pierre Gasly (28 / Alpine), y Yuki Tsunoda (24 / Racing Bulls).
This group came to renew the roster of drivers, but that change of atmosphere brought freshness and more “humanity” to the protagonists. Something that also happens with Franco Colapinto (Williams), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) y Ollie Bearman (he replaced Kevin Magnussen in Haas on 2 dates and in 2025 he will be a starter in that team). These guys have no qualms about offering themselves to the public. Also with the media, since if it were not for the protocol inserted for decades where hand-to-hand interaction is only allowed with prior approval from the press officers of each team, they would have no problems talking to any journalist.
This is why Max also stands out under the car, since he does not put on the cassette to testify. He says what he thinks and if there is controversy, the better, he doubles down. It has an air of drivers from the seventies or eighties because of that free way of handling itself beyond the super professionalism that F1 has today.
Regarding historical references, he was very sorry for the death of Niki Lauda in 2019, and since 2020 he is “son-in-law” of Nelson Piquetbecause he is a couple Kelly Piquet (nine years older). He usually spends his vacations in the South American summers in Brazil with the model from the Mega Model Brasil agency and he is clearly in love with the daughter of the three-time world champion. She is the ex of Daniel Kvyat (they are parents of a daughter), who shared the Red Bull driver development structure with the Dutchman and they even had a good bond…
His bond with Red Bull is very strong, but for 2026 a possible departure sounds like Aston Martinwhere he already works Adrian Neweythe most successful designer in the history of the Máxima and who is the father of all the Red Bull champions.
Since his debut in 2015 in F1, Verstappen competed 206 races and achieved 62 victories, 111 podiums, 40 pole positions and 33 lap records. If it comes to numbers, until 2021 he wore the 33 in his car because it is the one he used since his beginnings in karting, with exceptions, such as in F3, because it was not available and he used the 30. As of 2022 he wears the 1 to refer to its title.
In 2021 together with Hamilton They stole the attention for the duel where they gave nothing away. They had hand to hand fighting on the track as in Bahrain, in Imola (Emilia-Romagna GP) and Sao Paulo. Two touches that generated a lot of controversy are included, first in Great Britain where Max was left with the destroyed car and then in Italiawhere The Red Bull mounted on the Mercedes whose halo saved the integrity of the Briton.
High voltage is the order of the day with a hot battle that includes exchanges of statements from both the pilots and from the heads of the Mercedes and Red Bull teams. In the last rounds of that fight they were exciting and in fact they were tied on points at the end of the calendar, until the last round of the season they fought hand to hand where the Dutchman prevailed, ending Hamilton’s reign.
Max could not break the record of being the youngest world champion in history, a mark he still holds. Sebastian Vettelwhen he established himself in 2010 at the age of 23 years, 4 months and 11 days, but he continues to expand his mark in F1. His four titles place him in a privileged place in history since he reached Alain Prost and was one of Juan Manuel Fangio and 3 from Hamilton and from Michael Schumacherthe most awarded in the history of the Máxima.
