Max Verstappen

Max Emilian Verstappen (born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-born Dutch racing driver, racing under the flag of the Netherlands. He is the reigning Formula One World Champion, winning the title in , and . 
who is currently competing in Formula 1 for Red Bull Racing.
He made his Formula One debut at age 17 in 2015 with Toro Rosso, becoming the youngest Formula One driver in history. After four races of the season, he was promoted to the senior Red Bull team and won on debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix to also become the youngest race winner in Formula One history.
In , he became the first Dutch World Champion by controversially winning the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. He went on to dominate the following two seasons, with Red Bull breaking the record for most wins in a season in and most consecutive wins in .
Son of former F1 driver Jos, Verstappen is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time, winning three Drivers Championships, contributing to two Constructors Championships and winning Grands Prix in his career.
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== Early Career ==
Verstappen began karting at age four, driving in Championships by the age of seven. He had an exceptional karting career, ending by winning the 2013 CIK-FIA European Karting Championship in both the KF and KZ categories. By beating out future rival Charles Leclerc he also became the youngest winner of the CIK-FIA World Karting Championship in the KZ category. Verstappen won twenty other karting championships between 2005 and 2013.
For 2014 he graduated to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with van Amersfoort Racing. He won the most races out of any driver that season, ten, including six in a row between rounds five and six. However, he could only finish third in the Championship behind Estaban Ocon and Tom Blomqvist. Despite this, his talent at a young age had been recognized and in August 2014 the 16-year-old was confirmed to join the Red Bull Young Drivers Program and with that a full time F1 seat for 2015. Mercedes had tried to sign the young Dutchman to their academy but Red Bull's ability to offer a seat in F1 meant they were successful gaining his signature.
==F1 Career==
=== 2014 ===
After his announcement as a full-time driver at Toro Rosso for 2015 alongside Carlos Sainz, Verstappen would drive in three Free Practice sessions in the second half of 2014. He made his first appearance at the Japanese Grand Prix – becoming the youngest driver to compete in a race weekend. He finished the session 12th, just four tenths behind Daniil Kvyat in the sister car. He also appeared in practice for the US and Brazilian Grands Prix.
=== 2015 ===
Verstappen made his full race debut at the opening round of the 2015 season, the Australian Grand Prix. He qualified 11th and ran in the points until he retired with an engine failure. He would score his first career points next time out in Malaysia, becoming the youngest point scorer in Formula 1 history with seventh place. He initially impressed in Monaco, when after being lapped by Sebastian Vettel, he followed the German through traffic to overtake his teammate Carlos Sainz and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. His race came to a dramatic end however on lap 62 as he smashed into the back of Romain Grosjean, crashing heavily into the barriers and St Devote.
He would score points again before the summer break, eighth in Austria and fourth in Hungary. He improved further in the second half of the season, scoring points in all but two races and equaled his season best result of fourth at the United States Grand Prix. He would finish the season 12th in the Championship with 49 points, as the highest placed rookie and with nearly three times the points of his teammate. He was recognized with three awards at the FIA prizegiving ceremony, winning Personality of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Action of the Year for his overtake on Felipe Nasr at the Belgian Grand Prix
=== 2016 ===
==== Toro Rosso ====
In an unchanged lineup, Verstappen would begin the year at Toro Rosso alongside Carlos Sainz for their second seasons. He would score points in the first three races of the season despite contact with his teammate in the opening round and retired with an engine failure in Russia whilst running in sixth.
==== Red Bull ====
Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat's underperformance combined with Verstappen's rapid development led to Verstappen being promoted to the senior Red Bull team and Kvyat taking his place at Toro Rosso. He would drive alongside race-winner Daniel Ricciardo in a car capable of challenging for podiums at most races.
He qualified fourth, one place behind Ricciardo at his Red Bull debut at the Spanish Grand Prix and was immediately promoted to second place after the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took each other out on the first lap. With Verstappen taking two pitstops to Ricciardo's three, the young Dutchman held off the old head of Kimi Raikkonen to take his first victory in Formula 1. He became the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix, and the first Dutch driver to do so, impressing the paddock by winning a race on his first opportunity in a top-level car. He also became the youngest ever podium finisher and the youngest driver to lead a lap in Formula One.
He qualified only 21st in Monaco after a crash in Q1 and was eliminated from the race after a lockup led to another accident. Aside from that, he continued to drive consistently, taking three more podiums before the summer break as Red Bull established itself as the second fastest team that season.
He drew criticism after the summer break at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he was involved in a first lap incident with both Ferrari cars, leading to both of them as well as Verstappen losing significant ground on the first lap. He also drove extremely aggressively later in the race, forcing Kimi Raikkonen off of the track and moving under braking when defending, leading to the Finn claiming Verstappen would cause a “huge accident”. He was similarly criticized at the Mexican Grand Prix, this time by Sebastian Vettel, after similar displays of aggression. Verstappen eventually lost a podium at that race by receiving a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
He continued to challenge for podiums after the summer break, with second place at consecutive races in Malaysia (after a side-by-side battle with teammate and eventual race winner Daniel Ricciardo) and Japan. At the wet Brazilian Grand Prix, a late tyre change meant he found himself in 16th with just 15 laps to go. Remarkably, he fought his way up to third position, a drive which was later lauded as one of the greatest wet-weather performances of all time. Verstappen also took the fastest lap of the race, his first, becoming the youngest driver ever to achieve the feat. He finished the season with 204 points, enough for 5th in the Championship, scoring seven podiums including his debut win at the Spanish Grand Prix. He was outscored by 29 points by his Ricciardo in their time together, respectable given the Dutchman's youth and lack of experience compared to his teammate.
=== 2017 ===
Verstappen would continue at Red Bull for his first full season with the team, again alongside Daniel Ricciardo. He finished fifth at the season opener in Australia and came from 16th place on the grid at the next round in China to take his first podium of the season with third place. However, he only finished twice in the next seven rounds, with mechanical retirements in Bahrain, Canada and Azerbaijan. He was involved in first corner collisions at the Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso respectively, both resulting in him retiring from the race.
He took fourth at Silverstone and fifth in Hungary before more mechanical issues meant he failed to finish again at the Belgian Grand Prix. At the Italian Grand Prix, he took a grid penalty for new engine parts so only started P13. He was involved in another collision, this time with Felipe Massa, causing a puncture which restricted him only to tenth place. Trouble followed him to Singapore, where he was sandwiched before the first turn by the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, eliminating all three cars as well as the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
The Malaysian Grand Prix saw an upturn of form, qualifying second behind Lewis Hamilton and overtaking the Brit in the early stages to lead the rest of the race and take his second career win. He didn't finish outside the top five for the rest of the season, finishing a close second to Hamilton in Japan after a late safety car. He won again at the Mexican Grand Prix, leading every lap of the race for the first time of his career after overtaking polesitter Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap.
For Verstappen, 2017 was a season marred regularly by unreliability and by collisions, which greatly limited his ability to score consistent points. Therefore, despite a late season resurgence and two race wins he could only manage sixth place in the Championship, again behind his teammate. The strength of his late-season resurgence is shown best by the fact that he managed to score 100 points in the final six races, compared to just 68 in the first 14.
=== 2018 ===
Verstappen's 2018 season started poorly, with errors and collisions affecting him in his first six races. He spun whilst chasing the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in Australia, crashed in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix and wiped-out Sebastian Vettel whilst fighting for a podium in the Chinese Grand Prix. He received a ten-second penalty, dropping to fifth while teammate Ricciardo won the race. At the following round in Baku, Ricciardo rear-ended Verstappen while fighting for fourth place. Both Red Bull cars were eliminated with the team splitting the blame between their two drivers. He scored a podium with third in Spain despite clipping Lance Stroll and damaging his front wing.
At Monaco, he crashed out of qualifying as he did in 2016. He could only salvage ninth in the race while Ricciardo took his second win of the season. The poor beginning to the season left Verstappen with only 32 points compared to Ricciardo's 72. His form began to improve with third in Canada, then second in France, before he took advantage of the misfortune of a Mercedes double DNF in Austria to win from Kimi Raikkonen. In just three races he had closed the gap on his teammate down to just three points.
Reliability issues took him out of two of the following three races, brake failure at Silverstone and engine problems in Budapest coming either side of P4 at the German Grand Prix. He began the second half of the season strongly finishing third in Belgium before only managing fifth at Monza, receiving a five-second penalty due to a collision with Bottas. He scored podiums consistently after Italy, only missing out once in the last seven races. The highlight was in Mexico, where after narrowly missing out on his maiden pole position, he overtook Ricciardo on the opening lap to lead the vast majority of the race to take his fifth career win. 
At the following round, the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen held a convincing lead but tangled with Estaban Ocon whilst lapping the Frenchman. This allowed Hamilton to take lead of the race, with Verstappen finishing second. An additional two-second places and two third places meant he finished fourth in the Championship, ahead of teammate Ricciardo for the first time. The Australian suffered badly from Red Bull unreliability, but Verstappen had been the more impressive driver over the course of the season. He had proven himself to be amongst the best in the sport, after doubt was cast on his race craft due to his erratic start to the season.
=== 2019 ===
Verstappen would continue at Red Bull for 2019, with a new teammate in Pierre Gasly after Ricciardo moved to Renault. Red Bull also switched to Honda engines. He qualified fourth and finished third in the season opening Australian Grand Prix to bring Honda their first podium since they returned to the sport in 2015. The Dutchman drove consistently in the early part of the season, finishing fourth in the next three races, losing a podium in Bahrain after a late race safety car meant he couldn't overtake the ailing Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. He scored another third place in Spain and finished second on the road in Monaco. However, a five-second penalty for an unsafe release meant he was relegated off the podium to fourth place. A red flag in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix meant Verstappen could only qualify 11th, starting in ninth after penalties were applied. He recovered to finish fifth, before starting and finishing in fourth at the French Grand Prix.
Starting P2 in Austria, a poor start dropped Verstappen down to seventh place. In front of a raucous Dutch-dominated crowd, he fought his way through the field to controversially overtake Charles Leclerc for the lead three laps from the end, pushing the Ferrari off track. After a post-race investigation, the overtake was deemed legal and Verstappen took his first win of the season, at Red Bull's home track. He was running third at the next race at Silverstone, before being rammed into the gravel trap by Sebastian Vettel. He was able to continue and finished fifth. Verstappen suffered a poor start again at the rain-affected and chaotic German Grand Prix, but he was leading by lap 30 after race leader Lewis Hamilton crashed. He extended his lead throughout the race, winning convincingly whilst masterfully negotiating conditions that much of the field struggled in. At the last race before the summer break in Hungary, Verstappen finally took his first career pole position, finishing second after a strategic gamble from Hamilton. The Mercedes driver took an extra pitstop for fresh tires, using them to take the lead four laps from the end.
For the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen had a new teammate after Pierre Gasly was demoted back down to Toro Rosso due to poor performances, with Alexander Albon coming the other way to partner the Dutchman. Verstappen retired on lap 1 of the Grand Prix after a first corner collision with Kimi Raikkonen caused suspension damage. Engine troubles in qualifying meant he only started 18th in Monza, finishing eighth in the race after damaging his front wing. He finished third in Singapore, fourth in Russia, and retired at Suzuka after another first corner collision, this time with Charles Leclerc. Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix but received a grid penalty for not slowing for yellow flags, starting P4. An early race puncture after contact with Bottas meant he could only finish sixth.
Verstappen started and finished third in the United States Grand Prix and took his second pole position of the season at the following round in Brazil. He led most of the race before pitting for fresher tires when a safety car was called on lap 53, dropping him to second. He duly overtook Hamilton at the restart to retake the lead and win. He ended the season with second place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Verstappen finished a third place in the Championship behind the dominant Mercedes drivers, taking three wins, nine podiums and his maiden pole position. He dominated both his teammates, securing two-thirds of Red Bull's constructors' points.
=== 2020 ===
At the beginning of 2020 Verstappen signed a contract that would keep him at Red Bull until the end of 2023. In a shortened, Covid affected season, Verstappen found himself consistently clear of teammate Albon and the rest of the field, barring the dominant Mercedes which he often lacked the machinery to challenge on a consistent basis. He retired from the season opening Austrian Grand Prix, and at the Styrian Grand Prix at the same track he ran in second for most of the race before being overtaken in the closing stages by Valtteri Bottas. In Hungary, he crashed on his lap to the grid, damaging his suspension but his mechanics managed to repair the damage in time for him to start the race. He eventually climbed from P7 on the grid to finish second.
Verstappen narrowly missed out on victory in the first race at Silverstone, finishing second despite making up nearly thirty seconds on race leader Lewis Hamilton on the final lap after the Mercedes driver suffered a puncture. Had Verstappen not made a late pitstop to take fastest lap, it is likely that he would’ve been able to pass Hamilton and win the race. He would have redemption a week later at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, also at Silverstone. Pirelli brought tires that were a step softer than they did for the British Grand Prix, which suited Red Bull and Verstappen as they were significantly kinder on their tires than Mercedes. He started fourth and was able to run longer on his first stint which set him up for a comfortable victory, ten seconds clear of Hamilton.
His podium-scoring streak continued without incident, finishing third in Spain and second in Belgium. He retired from the next two races, suffering engine failure at Monza before getting beached in the gravel trap on the first lap of the Tuscan Grand Prix, after being rear-ended by Kimi Raikkonen. He bounced back with three podiums at the next three races and was denied a fourth in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after a high-speed tyre failure sent him spinning out, meaning he failed to finish all three Italian races in 2020. He had a rare off-day at the wet-weather Turkish Grand Prix, spinning after a botched overtake on Sergio Perez, eventually taking the flag in sixth place in a race which he arguably had the pace to win. It was the only time in 2020 which he took the chequered flag outside of the podium places.
The Dutchman took yet another podium with second in the Bahrain Grand Prix. He started third at the Sakhir Grand Prix but was involved in an incident at Turn 4 of the first lap with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. He crashed into the barrier as a result and suffered his fifth retirement of the season. Verstappen took his first pole of the season at the final round in Abu Dhabi, less than a tenth of ahead of both Mercedes cars. He kept the lead at the first turn and dominated the race, leading every lap. He finished the season third in the Championship, often the only challenger to the dominant Mercedes cars, only eight points behind second placed Valtteri Bottas. He blew his teammate Albon out of the water, scoring enough points to single handedly give Red Bull second in the Constructors Championship.
=== 2021 ===
In , Verstappen secured his first world title, making him the first Dutch driver to win a Formula One World Championship. Verstappen broke some world records during his strong season in 2021, such as earning the most podiums in a single season and being the fourth youngest driver to win a World Championship in F1.
2021 proved to be the most dramatic, intense championship fight of the hybrid era, as the winner was decided on the last lap of the last race, whilst also having a huge rivalry between the teams of Red Bull and Mercedes with their principals, FIA being involved in lots of instances or penalties and of course the fierce season-long battle between a rising star and an experienced seven-time world champion: Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton. Many fans regarded this season as one of the best in recent times as the title fight got often dirty or controversial and the racing was of high standard as well as very close, on the limit and sometimes over it.
The rivalling teams at the top also often tried to slander each other and try to impose regulation changes as well as penalties on the other team. Throughout the season, FIA proved to be clearly on Hamilton's side as they have favored Mercedes since the start of the hybrid era, but on one moment, a head of steward did something that led to Max having a last chance to rescue his championship that would've otherwise been stolen from him. 
He allowed a few cars to unlap themselves to restart the race under green again and now that Verstappen had pitted for new, fresh tires, he had a perfect chance to attack Hamilton and he already dived on the inside before turn 5 on the last lap, which gave him the lead and the one chance to win the race and thus the title. Hamilton had enough straight-line speed to try and come back at him to repass, but Max weaved slightly to keep him back, braked later and held him off. With the pressure dealt, he stayed in front and crossed the line first to bring him the first world driver's championship trophy.
=== 2022 ===
In , Verstappen successfully defended his world title from his fellow competitors with his victory at the treacherously wet . Following the race, he led by 113 points with only 4 races remaining in the season, which made it impossible for any other driver to remain in contention for the world title. 
=== 2023 ===
In 2023, Red Bull has a brilliant car and Verstappen so far has been consistent and dominated the first half of the season. With a bit of reliability issues in Jeddah, he dropped out of Q2 and still recovered to second place on race day, but other than that and the race in Azerbaijan he has been always winning and seems unstoppable. He His teammate Perez cannot keep up with him and is 110 points behind in the championship standings, making Verstappen the big favorite for a third championship title. Verstappen even won from 9th on the grid in Florida after an early error in Q3 enabled him to set a good lap, which was later hindered by Charles Leclerc's crash bringing out the red flag at the last 2 minutes, ending the session. On the Sunday he made quick work of the cars in front of him and took a daring strategy to challenge and overhaul his teammate near the end who started from pole. 
Verstappen and Perez gave Red Bull a record of 12 consecutive victories with the Hungarian GP win being the last at this point. So far, they are the only Constructor to win a race this season, but not with a lot of 1-2 finishes as Perez has struggles in qualifying, where Verstappen usually dominates and takes pole, other than Perez who took pole in Saudi Arabia and Miami as well as Charles Leclerc in Baku and Hamilton in Hungary. 
=== Bahrain GP ===
Verstappen showed that Red Bull had not been hyped up in Winter Testing without reason and their excellent 2022 form continued. Charles Leclerc in a clearly slower Ferrari still was competitive enough to maybe vye for pole but Verstappen took it after Ferrari decided to not do a second run with the Monegasque in Q3, leaving him third on the grid with a front row Red Bull lockout as Perez qualified second. 
Verstappen had an exquisite start without any problems compared to last year when both Red Bulls retired with a drivetrain/engine issue. Leclerc stayed in front of Perez for the first stint and held stand, but the ultimate pace of the Red Bull proved superior. Verstappen had a good, comfortable lead over Perez in the last stint and brought a victory home of roughly 10 seconds despite his complaints about the reaction time of the gearbox and the throttle which weren't completely to his liking. Leclerc retired with an engine failure, so the winning team was joined by Alonso on the podium in his Aston Martin.
=== Saudi Arabian GP ===
At the Max Verstappen delivered a shock through the paddock as his car seemed to have a malfunction in Q2. He looked ever more favorite for pole and win throughout the weekend as the pace was certainly there for him in Free Practice. Sergio Perez proved strong as well and could now secure his first pole position of the season, qualifying only a tenth ahead of Charles Leclerc who managed a second fastest time in Q3, in the third fastest car, as Aston Martin was quicker, but Charles would be demoted as he was already gone through his allowed engine parts. 
On race day, Perez had a fight with Alonso while Leclerc and Verstappen had to make their recovery to the front. Verstappen's pace in the first stint was slower than Leclerc who made good use of the soft tires to pass other competitors more quickly. When Stroll's car hit trouble and had to park on the track, Verstappen was a few seconds behind the Monegasque driver and then the VSC was brought out and quickly turned into a full safety car. As Leclerc had pitted well before the incident, Verstappen inherited his position and managed to move past Hamilton as well, soon running second.
Verstappen chased Perez throughout the rest of the race with both cars sharing some strange gremlin but they still had more pace than the competition. Perez did well to have a decent enough gap for Max not to ever pose a threat and thus the Mexican beat him, nevertheless it was a fantastic drive from Verstappen, who cleverly managed to stay one point ahead in the championship by securing the fastest lap. He also secured the driver of the day vote.
=== Australian GP ===
The Australian GP was rather crazy and ended up with lots of chaos, following a standing start after an earlier red flag. Even still, Max couldn't be topped as he got back at Hamilton who got a better start like his teammate Russell, who then pitted early during a safetycar to retire moments later with an engine blowout. The Mercedes had great pace in this race, but Max proved to still to be too much and overtook Hamilton around the outside and then controlled the race from there.
=== Hungarian GP ===
==Formula One Statistical Overview==
===Formula One Record===
Year 	Entrant 	Team 	WDC Points 	WDC Pos. 	Report
Junior Career	Junior Career 	Junior Career 	Junior Career 	Junior Career 	Junior Career
2014 	Red Bull Junior Team 	Red Bull Junior Team	Red Bull Junior Team	Red Bull Junior Team	Red Bull Junior Team
Senior Career	Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career
 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	Test Driver 	Test Driver 	Test Driver
 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	49 	12th 	Report
 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	204 	5th 	Report
 	Red Bull Racing 	 	204 	5th 	Report
 	Red Bull Racing 	 	168 	6th 	Report
 	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	 	249 	4th 	Report
 	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	 	278 	 	Report
 	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	 	214 	 	Report
 	Red Bull Racing Honda 	 	395.5 	 	Report
 	Oracle Red Bull Racing 	 	454 	 	Report
 	Oracle Red Bull Racing 	 	575 	 	Report
 	Oracle Red Bull Racing 	 	 	 	Report
 	Oracle Red Bull Racing 	 	 	 	Report
===Career Statistics===
===Race Wins===
Win Number	Grand Prix
1 	2016 Spanish Grand Prix
2 	2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
3 	2017 Mexican Grand Prix
4 	2018 Austrian Grand Prix
5 	2018 Mexican Grand Prix
6 	2019 Austrian Grand Prix
7 	2019 German Grand Prix
8 	2019 Brazilian Grand Prix
9 	70th Anniversary Grand Prix
10 	2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
11 	2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
12 	2021 Monaco Grand Prix
13 	2021 French Grand Prix
14 	2021 Styrian Grand Prix
15 	2021 Austrian Grand Prix
16 	2021 Belgian Grand Prix
17 	2021 Dutch Grand Prix
18 	2021 United States Grand Prix
19 	2021 Mexico City Grand Prix
20 	2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
21 	2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
22 	2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
23 	2022 Miami Grand Prix
24 	2022 Spanish Grand Prix
25 	2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
26 	2022 Canadian Grand Prix
27 	2022 French Grand Prix
28 	2022 Hungarian Grand Prix
29 	2022 Belgian Grand Prix
30 	2022 Dutch Grand Prix
31 	2022 Italian Grand Prix
32 	2022 Japanese Grand Prix
33 	2022 United States Grand Prix
34 	2022 Mexico City Grand Prix
35 	2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
36 	2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
37 	2023 Australian Grand Prix
38 	2023 Miami Grand Prix
39 	2023 Monaco Grand Prix
40 	2023 Spanish Grand Prix
41 	2023 Canadian Grand Prix
42 	2023 Austrian Grand Prix
43 	2023 British Grand Prix
44 	2023 Hungarian Grand Prix
45 	2023 Belgian Grand Prix
46 	2023 Dutch Grand Prix
47 	2023 Italian Grand Prix
48 	2023 Japanese Grand Prix
49 	2023 Qatar Grand Prix
50 	2023 United States Grand Prix
Win Number	Grand Prix
51 	2023 Mexico City Grand Prix
52 	2023 São Paulo Grand Prix
53 	2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix
54 	2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
55 	2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
56 	2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
57 	2024 Japanese Grand Prix
58 	2024 Chinese Grand Prix
59 	2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
60 	2024 Canadian Grand Prix
61 	2024 Spanish Grand Prix
62 	2024 São Paulo Grand Prix
===Records===
Verstappen has broken and achieved quite a good amount of records, and placed himself among legends in several other statistics.
======Records held by Max======
*Verstappen is the youngest F1 driver to ever enter the sport. He was 17 years and 3 days old when doing his first test in free practice 1 at the 2014 Japanese GP, and impressed by setting the 12th time for Toro Rosso, only 4 tenths down on Kvyat and not being far away from Vettel's RedBull.
*Verstappen is the youngest F1 driver to start a race: He was 17 years and 166 days of age when starting at the season opener in Melbourne in 2015.
*Verstappen is the youngest F1 driver to score points, which he achieved at the 2015 Malaysian GP, at the age of 17 years, 180 days, heading Lance Stroll who was 18 years old at the 2017 Canadian GP.
*Verstappen is the youngest driver to ever set a fastest lap. He gained this honor in his amazing 2016 Brazilian GP race, being 19 years old. He's followed by Norris who was 20 years old at the 2020 Austrian GP, Nico Rosberg who was also 20 in the Bahrain GP of 2006, and LeClerc is 4th, being 21 years old when achieving his fastest lap at the 2019 Bahrain GP.
*Verstappen is the youngest driver to ever lead a race, he was 18 years old and 228 days, beating Sebastian Vettel's record of 20 years, 89 days at the 2007 Japanese GP. Charles LeClerc later entered the list in third spot after leading the 2019 Bahrain GP for a good while until his engine hit trouble. He was 21 years and 166 days old.
*Verstappen is the youngest driver to ever finish on the podium as well as the youngest ever to win a GP race. He achieve this feat at his first race for RedBull in 2016, at the Spanish GP. He was 18 years old 228 days old. The next youngest winner, Sebastian Vettel was 21 years old in 2008 at Monza. The next youngest podium finisher, Lance Stroll, was only 11 days older than Verstappen, grabbing third place in Baku 2017.
*Verstappen achieved the records of stepping onto the podium the most times in a season in 2021, reaching the rostrum 18 times. The previous records of 17 podiums is shared by three drivers, Vettel in 2013, Michael Schumacher in 2002, Lewis Hamilton however achieved this feat even 4 times, in the seasons of 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
*Verstappen is the driver who ended a season with the most points ever scored, 454 in 2022. However the calender is longer than before and keeps growing in number of race weekends, and the point system has been more rewarding since 2010, so that needs to be placed into context.
* That same year, Verstappen beat the all-time record of 13 wins in a season with his RedBull, racking it up to 15 in total. The record of 13 was shared between the two legendary German World Champions, Micheal Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Vettel achieved this incredible record in 2013 with RedBull as well, whilst Schumacher accomplished this feat in 2004 for Scuderia Ferrari. However it's still noted that in this case there were more race weekends, 22 compared to Vettel's 19 GP's and Schumacher's 17 races.
*Verstappen faced the challenge of overturning the largest points deficit ever to become world champion, being 46 points down initially to finally beat LeClerc. Previously, Vettel was 40 points down on Alonso in 2012 due to reliability issues as well, and turned it around to be crowned champion at the final race.
======Records where Max is listed in the top 10======
*Verstappen was the youngest front row starter for less than a year, achieving a second place spot next to Nico Rosberg on the 2016 Belgian GP. Lance Stroll beat this record during the 2017 GP of Italy, by being able to qualify (however Verstappen and Ricciardo where demoted with grid penalties for changing components, while Lance still qualified a brilliant 4th) onto second place in a wet session. Stroll was 18 years and 310 days. Max is still second in this list with the age of 18 years and 287 days.
*Verstappen is 4th on the all-time youngest pole sitters. Vettel still holds this record from qualifying first in the wet qualifying of Monza 2008, for Toro Rosso, at 21 years and 72 days. LeClerc got his mark onto second place by beating his Ferrari teammate Vettel for pole at the Circuit of Bahrain in 2019, at 21 years, 165 days. Several years before Vettel's famous accomplishment, Fernando Alonso topped the list with the age of 21 years, 236 days after getting the fastest time in Malaysia GP of 2003, granting him grid slot number 1. He's now third, above Verstappen who heads two other young drivers:
4	Max Verstappen	21 years, 307 days	2019 Hungarian Grand Prix
5	Lando Norris 	21 years, 316 days	2021 Russian Grand Prix
6	Lance Stroll 	22 years, 16 days 	2020 Turkish Grand Prix
*Verstappen is 5th in the record of most consecutive seasons with at least one Grand Prix win: 8. The record holders are Michael Schumacher, who had 15 seasons with at least one victory: from 1992 to 2006, and Lewis Hamilton who has the same number as Michael and ended his streak last year after having this success from his first year, 2007 till 2021. Alain Prost is third (10, 1980–1989) and Ayrton Senna is 4th (9, 1985–1993). Verstappen shares the 5th spot with his father-in-law Nelson Piquet, who won a race every year from 1980 to 1987, also 8 years. Verstappen's still going, from 2016 to 2023. He could be climbing the ranks in a few years time.
===Career Results===
==Notes==
==External links==
*Official website
*Red Bull Racing
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Category:Current Drivers
Category:World Championship Winning Drivers
Category:1997 births
Category:Living people
Category:Dutch Drivers
Category:2015 Début Drivers
Category:Toro Rosso Drivers
 
Category:Red Bull Drivers
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