Drivers on the Grid #2: Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen has established himself as one of the greatest talents to ever be produced in Formula 1, with his raw speed and uncompromising competitive spirit making him one of the most successful drivers in the sport’s history. From Formula 1’s youngest-ever Grand Prix winner at age 17, he quickly proved that he is capable of being at the pinnacle of motorsports, claiming a sensational maiden victory on his Red Bull debut in 2016. 10 years later, he’s a four-time World Champion, developing into the benchmark for the new era of Formula 1, breaking countless records and leading Red Bull in one of the most dominant periods of Formula 1 history. Renowned for his fearless overtaking, consistency under pressure, and supreme car control, Verstappen has cemented his place amongst the greats of Formula 1, and his thirst for more history is still not quenched just yet.
Full Name: Max Emilian Verstappen
Birthplace: Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium
Nationality: Dutch
DOB: 30th September 1997
2026 Team: Red Bull
Car Number: #3
First F1 Race: 2015 Australian Grand Prix
First F1 Win: 2016 Spanish Grand Prix
Last F1 Win: 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
Wins: 72
Podiums: 135
Career Points: 3632.5
Pole Positions: 49
Fastest Laps: 38
2014–15: Toro Rosso Tenure
On the 18th of August 2014, Helmut Marko made one of the biggest decisions in Red Bull’s history, signing 16-year-old Max Verstappen for the 2015 season for Toro Rosso, partnering with rookie Carlos Sainz, who was announced as his teammate two days later. At the time, Verstappen was a racer in Formula 3, with an impressive 10 wins in the 2014 season, finishing third in the standings. Just three days after turning 17, Verstappen was already participating in a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend, replacing Jean-Éric Vergne during FP1 for the Japanese Grand Prix.
At the start of the inaugural race of the season in 2015, Verstappen made history, becoming the youngest full-time driver in Formula 1 at 17 years and 166 days, leaving immense pressure on his shoulders with only one season of single-seater racing under his belt. Despite this, he qualified in a promising 12th and looked set for a points finish in his debut race, when an engine failure brought an end to his debut. Despite a discouraging start, Formula 1 saw Verstappen’s true potential in the next race in Malaysia, qualifying sixth and finishing seventh, showcasing his extraordinary natural ability for the first time. Throughout the rest of the season, Verstappen earned a reputation for his fearless overtaking, aggressive yet controlled racecraft, and remarkable composure under pressure. Despite his rookie status, he gave some of the big names on the grid a run for their money, making him one of the most exciting prospects Formula 1 has seen in years. Verstappen continued to score points in ten more races, including outstanding P4 finishes in Hungary and Austin, serving as highlights of his season. He ended the year with 49 points, over 30 more than teammate Sainz, winning him FIA Rookie of the Year, proving Formula 1 had found its newest superstar.
2016–20: Red Bull’s Newest Bull
In 2016, following another promising start to the season, with point finishes in the first three races, Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull after four races to replace the demoted Daniil Kvyat, for the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, partnering with Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo, in what would be one of the most well-liked partnerships in Formula 1. Team principal Christian Horner even labelled Verstappen as an outstanding talent deserving of a Red Bull seat. After qualifying fourth, Verstappen was second by the end of lap one, after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out of the race. While Red Bull opted for a three-stop strategy for Ricciardo, Verstappen was placed on a two-stop, helping him gain track position, fend off the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, and take his first Formula 1 victory. He became the youngest driver ever to win a race at 18 years and 228 days. Following six more podium finishes, Verstappen ended the season on 204 points, finishing fifth in the Drivers’ Championship.
Between 2017 and 2020, Verstappen’s place on the team started to become more and more important, making him the undisputed team leader. Although Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton continued to dominate both championships, the Dutchman consistently extracted his car to the limit, delivering consistent and exceptional performances when it mattered. 2017 saw Verstappen secure two more victories in Malaysia and Mexico, followed by another two wins in Mexico and Austria in 2018, while his relationship with teammate Ricciardo improved by the season, making it one of Formula 1’s most enjoyable driver partnerships. By this stage, Verstappen had established himself as one of the fastest and most complete drivers on the grid, regularly taking the fight to Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
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2019 season marked another significant milestone in Verstappen’s career, and Red Bull started using Honda for the first time. Daniel Ricciardo, believing the team was starting to prioritise Verstappen more, made a shocking move to Renault, leaving Verstappen with a new teammate in Pierre Gasly. However, Verstappen made Gasly look foolish, making notable progress and outscoring his teammate multiple times, including three race wins in Austria, Germany and Brazil. Verstappen also secured his first pole position in his Formula 1 career in Hungary, becoming the first Dutch driver to start at the front of the pack. Despite narrowly missing out on victory after a dramatic late-race battle with Hamilton, the weekend confirmed he had developed into a genuine championship-calibre driver. He ended the season third in the Drivers’ Championship with a then career-best 278 points.
2021: It’s Going Dutch
2021 was a defining season for Max Verstappen’s career, looking to finally dethrone Lewis Hamilton, a now 7-time world champion, now finally having the car which will bring the fight in the championship. Verstappen opened up his campaign in style, securing pole position in the opening race in Bahrain before grabbing his first win of the season in Emilia-Romagna. While Hamilton racked up wins in Portimão and Barcelona, Verstappen remained close on the reigning champions’ tail before taking the lead in the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career after winning in Monaco. Following commanding victories in France and both races in Austria, he found himself 32 points clear of Hamilton. Looking to extend his lead at Silverstone by qualifying on pole position and winning the first-ever sprint, Verstappen found himself in the barriers, colliding with Hamilton on Copse on the first lap, allowing Hamilton to close the gap and eventually take the lead of the Championship going into the summer break.
Verstappen immediately came swinging back after the summer break, winning a rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix that barely counted before delivering a moment that an entire nation was waiting for. At Zandvoort, in front of a sea of orange, he won the first Dutch Grand Prix in 36 years to retake the lead in the championship. The rivalry turned bitter at Monza after Verstappen clipped the curbs at Turn 1, ending up perched on Hamilton’s Mercedes and ending both their races. Hamilton claimed his 100th victory two weeks later in Sochi, but Verstappen came roaring back with back-to-back wins in Austin and Mexico City. Hamilton responded perfectly, winning in Brazil and Qatar, before taking another victory in a red-flagged, contact-filled night in Saudi Arabia, leaving the pair tied on points with 369.5; the first time since 1974 that the championship contenders went into the final race tied on points.
Verstappen got pole, but Hamilton dominated the race and looked set to clinch his eighth world title. Then Nicolas Latifi crashed five laps from the end, and the safety car came out. A controversial restart call conducted by race director Michael Masi allowed only the lapped cars between the leader to unlap themselves, setting up a one-lap shootout to decide the championship; Verstappen, on fresher soft tyres, overtook Hamilton with his first chance to take the title, 395.5 points to Lewis’ 387.5. At 24, he became the first Dutch World Champion in Formula 1 History, ending Hamilton’s bid for a record-breaking eighth world title, and “It’s Going Dutch” was no longer a prediction, only a reality.
2022–2023: Formula One? Formula Max
2022 began with frustration. Despite winning the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia, reliability issues forced him out of the Bahrain and Australian Grands Prix, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took full advantage, taking an early grip which left him 46 points ahead of Verstappen. Once Red Bull fixed their problems, and the momentum shaped compeltely. What looked like Leclerc’s time turned into total Max Verstappen domination. In the next six races, Verstappen won five in Emilia Romagna, Miami, Barcelona, Baku, and Canada, closing the gap as Ferrari’s reliability and strategy errors piled up. One of his highlights came in Hungary, charging from tenth on the grid to win at the Hungaroring, which saw him climb 80 points ahead of Charles Leclerc in second, after Ferrari had another strategic nightmare. After the summer break, Max became unstoppable, winning in Belgium after starting 14th on the grid, in front of his home crowd for the second time, and in Monza, making it five consecutive wins for him. He sealed his second world title in a rain-shortened Japanese Grand Prix, only confirmed after Leclerc received a post-race penalty, which dropped him out of contention. He finished the year with 15 wins, a record at the time, with 454 points, 146 more than Leclerc.
2023 was even more dominant. Verstappen won two of the first three races in Bahrain and Australia. After his teammate, Sergio Pérez, took victory in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, he reasserted his dominance, winning 10 races in a row from Miami to Monza, starting that run from ninth on the grid in Miami and breaking the record for most consecutive wins, previously held by Sebastian Vettel with 9. The streak ran from another Monaco domination in the rain to another triumph at home, leaving the championship fight over by the time the summer break came around. In a season dominated by Verstappen and Red Bull, only Carlos Sainz for Ferrari managed to win in Singapore, denying Red Bull a 100% record; but in 2023, NO ONE had an answer to Max Verstappen. 19 wins, 21 podiums, 12 pole positions, 575 points. He sealed the title in the Qatar sprint, with six races still to go. The most wins and points in a single season. 10 years ago, 19 was the season. Formula One? Formula MAX.
Under Pressure
Verstappen picked up where he left off in 2024, winning the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, before a brake fire ended his race and winning streak in Australia. He immediately bounced back, winning in Japan and both the sprint and main race in China. Off the track, pressure inside Red Bull was building, with an internal investigation into team principal Christian Horner circling over the paddock in the opening weeks of the season, and Adrian Newey, the designer behind so many of Red Bull’s title-winning cars, left the team. Verstappen kept winning, adding Emilia-Romagna, Canada, and Spain to his tally, but the crack in Red Bull started to widen. McLaren’s Lando Norris took his first career win in Miami, and Red Bull started to lose its edge since Barcelona, with that win turning out to be his last win for four months. A collision with Norris in Austria, a run of less-satisfying podium finishes behind a resurgent McLaren, and a tense Mexican Grand Prix were a certain podium was cancelled out by a penalty for forcing Norris off the track. Suddenly, a commanding 84-point lead shrank to 52. Then came Brazil. A disappointing Q2 elimination left him to start in 17th after receiving a five-place grid penalty over an engine change. From 17th on the grid, Verstappen produced one of the finest drives of his career, charging through the field to end a 10-race winless run and all but seal the title. P5 in Las Vegas was enough to seal a fourth consecutive title, with his 437 points beating Norris by 63. He had only won nine races, but this title was proof of how complete a driver he has become.
The Comeback of All Comebacks Which Fell Short
2025 began with a very different type of fight for Verstappen. McLaren arrived as the reigning Constructors’ Champions with the fastest car on the grid, and it showed when Lando Norris took the opening race in Australia, where a rain-soaked Verstappen finished second. Verstappen responded with pole and a win in Japan, but Oscar Piastri was winning races in China, which was followed by a hat-trick of wins in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Miami. Red Bull struggled to keep up, switching Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the season. Verstappen added a win in Imola, but his challenge faded, and Christian Horner was dismissed as team principal after the British Grand Prix, after 20 years with the team.
By the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen was third in the standings, 104 points behind Piastri, and the title looked out of reach. Then came the comeback. Verstappen won in Monza and Baku before finishing second in Singapore, closing the gap to just 63 points. He won again in Austin and later Las Vegas, after both McLarens were disqualified for excessive plank wear. Going into Qatar, Norris had the chance to seal the title with a win, but Verstappen postponed the celebrations with a sensational win, going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with just 12 points separating him and Norris.
With Piastri still in contention, it was a three-way battle for the title, but Norris had the easiest task, as all he needed to do was finish on the podium. Verstappen had the first say by sealing pole, dominating the race from lights out, but the comeback of all comebacks fell short in the end. Norris finished third, and Verstappen lost out on the title by just two points, making a hard-fought battle from the brink go unrewarded, and just like that, his four-season reign as world champion was over.
Epilogue: The Story Isn’t Finished
2026 brought a reset in Formula 1. New cars, new regulations, and a very different challenge for Max Verstappen. Mercedes arrived with a new era of dominance, while Red Bull struggled to keep up. Verstappen openly complained about the car, with retirements in China and Monaco, and his first podium coming only in race five in Canada. Even so, he finished P2 in Austria, Hungary, Azerbaijan, and Spain, as well as third-place finishes in Spa and Monza, culminating in a long-awaited win in Sepang at the Bahrain Grand Prix, a full-circle moment after he won the last race in Malaysia back in 2017, which back then was only his second win in his career. He currently sits sixth in the standings, 132 points adrift of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, and the title is most certainly out of reach now, but this is a champion who spent the past decade writing his name into what he thought was possible. His 250th race at the Singapore Grand Prix is just around the corner, and the story is not over yet.
