The Story of Max Verstappen - The Golden Boy of Formula 1
Born in 1997 Max Verstappen had a very typical childhood, one where his parents provided all the necessary tools and care that a young boy would need to succeed. However, the way his parents provided those things came just a tad differently than most. If you haven’t heard the name Jos Verstappen, now is an appropriate time to find out who he is. Jos Verstappen was a Formula 1 driver from 1994-2003. He never won a race but this was at a time when driver safety was just becoming a concern and regulations were nothing close to what they are today. Having a former Formula 1 driver as a father opens you up to a world most would only dream of.
Max began go karting at the early age of four. It is safe to say his father had a massive influence on the early years of his career. Although, Max has been keen to point out his father never pushed him into racing or motorsport in general. Max had a natural gift and the kind of determination most people don’t have. Max would have tremendous success in the first few years of his karting career and would soon move on to higher national, and international races. In 2013 Max would become a European and World karting champion. This would springboard him into elite levels of racing that only a handful of people will ever reach, Formula 3. FIA Formula 3 is a championship that drivers typically participate in before getting their shot in the big leagues, Formula 1. As you would expect Max was extremely successful and gained the attention of some big teams in Formula 1. He was then signed to the Red Bull Junior Driver program. This made his journey to F1 even faster and he soon landed himself a spot with Torro Rosso, the sister team of Red Bull Racing, in 2015.
In his maiden F1 season, Max recorded a stunning 49 points. For reference that was 22 more points than any other rookie, however there were only two other rookies. Still, those numbers impressed quite a few people. Max was gaining more and more attention and it would not stop, just four races into the 2016 season with Torro Rosso he was promoted to Red Bull Racing. Getting promoted to this team is quite a big deal seeing as they won four consecutive world championships from 2010-2013. This promotion came at the expense of Daniil Kvyat, but not many people were concerned about him at the time. This mid-season driver change (which is quite rare) proved to be the right move when Max stunned the world. His debut for the new team would be during the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. This race would only solidify the new move, pushed by Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen the whole way, Max became the youngest Formula 1 winner of all time at the age of 18.
Despite all this success, Red Bull was still extremely far off the pace of the team to beat, Mercedes. Since the new hybrid era began in 2014, Mercedes has utterly crushed the competition. After all, winning a world title is all that matters in this sport. If you are not there to win you are not there at all. Being in such an exclusive sport, seats are very hard to come by. Max continued to prove himself throughout the rest of the 2016 season and would earn a spot on the team for the 2017 season. Currently, we are right in the thick of the 2017 season. Max has had a rocky start with five retirements and only five race finishes. Even with those results he pushes the car to its limit every time he is on track. So where does he go from here?The only way he can go, up.
The future of this young star is still very uncertain. Rumors are swirling that he will move after his contract with Red Bull finishes in 2019. Frustration has been his weakness so far but his maturity while dealing with tough times is far ahead of his age. These are some of the most competitive people on earth driving the fastest cars on earth. That combination can cause extreme stress and Max handles this extremely well. One can only assume that one day he will be fighting for a world title but this assumption can be questionable. However, backed by Red Bull the chances of that happening are much higher. Can Max Verstappen be a world champion by 2019?
P.S. The new Halo safety devices being introduced in 2018 are atrocious, thanks FIA.
