Max Verstappen is a Belgian-Dutch racer born on September 30, 1997 in Hasselt, Belgium as Max Emiljan Verstappen. Max Verstappen is the son of former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen. He flies the Dutch flag in Formula 1 with the Red Bull Racing team and is well known for his debut with the Red Bull Junior team in August 2014.
Carier start
Max started karting at the age of four. It's safe to say that his father was a huge influence in the early years of his career. Although, today the racer in all interviews strove to note that his father never pushed him to racing or motorsport. The child had a natural gift and determination that most children and adolescents do not have. Young Verstappen competed in the mini-junior championship in his home province of Limburg (Belgium). He won the Belgian Karting Championship in 2006 when he was only nine years old. And in 2007, Verstappen won the Dutch Minimax Championship. In 2009, Verstappen joined PEX Racing, CRG's customer team, and won the Flemish Minimax Championship and the Belgium KF5 Championship.
In 2011, Verstappen won the Wsk Euro Series in CR and in 2012 became a member of the Intrepid Driver program for KF2 and KZ2 races. His first experience in a race car was at the Pembri Circuit on October 11, 2013. On January 16, 2014, it was announced that he would debut in the Florida Winter Series. On February 5, for his second race weekend, he won his first Formula Race at the Palm Beach International Raceway, and on February 19, he wins his second race in the series, Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Formula 1 Sauber
In August 2014, he joined the Red Bull Junior team after testing a Formula Renault 3.5 car. He also received an offer from Mercedes to join their pilot development program and six days later, he was confirmed as one of the drivers of the Scuderia Toro Rosso in the 2015 season. Verstappen became the youngest driver to compete in a Grand Prix after his first free practice at a Grand Prix. At Japan in 2014, in preparation for a contract with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015.
Verstappen became the youngest driver to start the royal races at the age of seventeen and sixty-six days - breaking Jaime Alguessuari's record by nearly two years. In this first race, he had to finish in the points zone, but had to stop the race due to engine failure. And just fourteen days later, Max will take sixth place on the starting grid and finish in the TOP-10, breaking another Formula 1 record, becoming the youngest pilot to receive points in the individual competition.
Formula 1 Red Bull
Verstappen received three FIA Awards for Rookie of the Year, Personality of the Year and Action of the Year for overtaking Felipe Nasr on the outside corner at the Belgian Grand Prix. In 2016, Verstappen started the season at Toro Rosso and finished fifth in the first race of the season in Australia.
Verstappen joined Red Bull at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix where he replaced Daniil Kvyat, who returned to Toro Rosso. After qualifying fourth at the Spanish Grand Prix, he finished second behind team-mate Daniel Riccardo on the first lap after famed Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg retired. With two pit stop tactics, he led the peloton and was able to repel the attacks of the experienced Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen to win his first victory in the royal races. He became the youngest driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix at the age of 18 years and 228 days.
In his first eight races with Red Bull, he did an excellent job with six end zone finishes, including four podium finishes.
In 2017, Verstappen was unable to finish seven times in the first 14 races of the season, four times due to mechanical problems, and three times due to collisions in Spain, Austria and Singapore. Max won his second Formula 1 race at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, a day after his 20th birthday, overtaking reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton for the lead in the early laps of the race. He finished second in the next stage in Japan and third in the United States Grand Prix, but was classified fourth after his last lap overtake by Kimi Raikkonen was challenged by commissioners. Verstappen won his third Formula 1 race (and second in 2017) at the Mexican Grand Prix, beating Sebastian Vettel on the first lap and leading the peloton until the very end of the race.
In 2018, Verstappen participated in at least one incident in each of the first six races of the season. He finished fourth at the start in Australia, but after the traffic lights went out, he let Kevin Magnussen go ahead, trying to regain the position, but damaged his car. Then Max was turned around in the first corner, which was used by Romain Grosjean, Rikiardo and Nico Hulkenberg, but he was lucky, and thanks to the strategy and cars that left the race, he was able to finish in the TOP 6. At the next race in Bahrain, he had an accident during qualifying and started in 15th place.
In China, Verstappen qualified fifth, and by the end of the first round he was already in third position. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen fought almost the entire race wheel-to-wheel with his partner Daniel Riccardo for 4th place. In Spain, Verstappen was finally able to climb the podium for the first time in the 2018 season, finishing 3rd behind Mercedes cars, and not allowing Sebastian Vettel to get around him in the last laps of the race.
In Monaco, it seemed that nothing would shine for Max, since he crashed his car during the free races, and the team did not have time to restore it in time. He started from the last row of the grid and was able to break into ninth place in the narrow streets of Monaco, although overtaking in the possessions of the Princes of Grimaldi is practically impossible.
At the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix, he led all three training sessions and qualified in third place, two tenths behind the pole position won by Sebastian Vettel. He finished third in the race and set the fastest lap in the race on lap 65. At the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, on the home track for Red Bull, he started fourth, passed Kimi Raikkonen and, taking advantage of the retirement of Valtteri Bottas and the unsuccessful strategy of Lewis Hamilton, won the fourth race of his career.
Personal life
Max Verstappen can boast not only success on the racetracks, but also on the love front, but fleeting romances are already behind him, his heart is occupied by the Swede Mikaela Alin-Kattulinski.
Like Verstapen, 23-year-old Michaela grew up in a racing family. Her grandfather is the winner of the “Paris-Dakar”, her father, in his youth, took first places in the Swedish junior rally championship, and her mother is the European rally champion. Considering that his brother also became a rally driver, Michaela had no options.
