Max Verstappen - all his records thus far
Published on 28 December 2016 by Stefan Meens
In 2016, Max Verstappen became the youngest ever Grand Prix winner. It would not be the only record the Dutch youngster claimed. Ever since he set foot in the Formula 1 paddock, the Red Bull Racing ace proved a record breaker. Below all his achievements so far.
2014 Japanese Grand Prix – Max becomes the youngest ever participant in a Grand Prix weekend. When he steers the STR9 onto the famous Suzuka circuit, he is only seventeen years and three days old. He ends his first FP1 in P12.
2015 Australian Grand Prix – Max makes his full F1-race debut in Melbourne. With his seventeen years and 166 days he smashes Jaime Alguersuari’s record of youngest Grand Prix racer. The Portuguese was nineteen at the time of his first GP start.
2015 Malaysian Grand Prix – With a seventh place in only his second Grand Prix, Max becomes the youngest point scorer in the history of the sport, taking the record of his Scuderia Toro Rosso predecessor Daniil Kvyat. In qualifying on Saturday, Max equals his father’s record of qualifying in sixth.
2015 Hungarian Grand Prix – After an eventful race, Max finishes fourth. It takes his points tally up to 22, exceeding his father’s record of 17 points in his career (bearing in mind that in Jos’ day, only the top six were awarded points).
Max ends his debut season in twelfth with 49 points, the highest points haul of any Scuderia Toro Rosso driver. The talented youngster also made the most overtakes (excluding first laps) of the season (49).
2016 Spanish Grand Prix – Four races into the 2016 season, Max is promoted to Red Bull Racing whilst Daniil Kvyat returns to Scuderia Toro Rosso. Max could not have wished for a better start with his new team. After qualifying in fourth, the Dutchman goes on to win the Spanish Grand Prix, thus crowning himself the youngest ever F1 race winner. The previous record was held by Sebastian Vettel.
Additionally, his win is Spain made him the youngest ever driver to lead a Grand Prix, take a podium as well as becoming the first Dutch driver to win a race in Formula 1.
2016 British Grand Prix – With this third place in qualifying, the youngster breaks the Dutch record for best qualifying, previously held by Jan Lammers. He qualified fourth in the ATS at Long Beach in 1980. By finishing third, Max takes his third podium of the year and surpasses Jos’ podium tally of two.
2016 Belgian Grand Prix – In front of his home crowd, Max claims his best qualifying position thus far (2nd).
2016 Brazilian Grand Prix – In a rain swept race, Max’ extraordinary talent surfaces. In the closing stages, the Dutchman gives a masterclass in wet weather driving after effortlessly climbing from sixteenth to third in appalling conditions. Additionally, he becomes the youngest ever driver to set a fastest lap as well as being the first Dutchman to do so.
Max finishes his second F1 season in fifth place, with 204 points. Once again he is the lead overtaker (78) in 2016. Since the FIA started counting overtakes in 1983, no driver has ever passed so many competitors in one year.
Thus far, Max has entered 40 Grands Prix. He has won one, set one fastest lap and collected seven podiums and 253 points. He has led a total of 42 laps and finished in the points 27 times. So far he has had 8 DNFs.
Max Verstappen's Formula 1 career
Grands Prix 40 (23 Toro Rosso, 17 Red Bull Racing) Wins 1 (Spain 2016) Best qualifying 2nd (Belgium 2016) Podiums 7 (1x 1st, 4x 2nd en 2x 3rd) Fastest laps 1 (Brazil, 2016) Points 253 (average of 6,32 points per GP) DNFs 8 (20%) Laps led 42 (in 4 GP's) Kilometres led 200 Laps raced 2201 Kilometres raced 11.107 Highest standings 5th (2016, 204 points)
