Florida Winter Series and Formula Three

Verstappen's first experience in a racing car was at the Pembrey Circuit on 11 October 2013. He drove 160 laps in a Barazi-Epsilon FR2.0–10 Formula Renault car. The car was provided by Dutch team MP Motorsport.[53] He tested for several Formula Renault 2.0 teams in 2013.[54] In December 2013, Verstappen tested a Dallara F311 Formula 3 car run by Motopark Academy.[55] An additional Formula Renault test followed in December at Circuito de Jerez. Driving for Josef Kaufmann Racing, Verstappen went faster than Formula Renault regulars like Steijn Schothorst and Matt Parry.[56] At the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Verstappen set a faster lap time than the more experienced driver Eddie Cheever III.[57]

On 16 January 2014, it was announced Verstappen would make his racing debut in the non-championship Florida Winter Series.[58] On 5 February, at the second race weekend, Verstappen won the race at Palm Beach International Raceway after he started from pole.[59] A few weeks later, Verstappen won his second race of the series at Homestead–Miami Speedway after beating Nicholas Latifi by 0.004 seconds.[60][61] Following his single-seater debut in the inaugural Florida Winter Series, Verstappen drove in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship for Van Amersfoort Racing.[62] Aged 16, Verstappen scored a record six consecutive victories in the series, and a record ten victories in total, along with eight retirements and one DNS (did not start); placing third in the overall rankings.

Formula One career

Scuderia Toro Rosso (2014–2016)

During the first practice session at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen replaced Jean-Éric Vergne as part of his preparation for a full-time seat at Toro Rosso in the 2015 season.[66] Aged 17 years and three days, Verstappen was the youngest person in history to participate in a Formula One race weekend.[67] In August 2014, Verstappen joined the Red Bull Junior Team after testing a Formula Renault 3.5 car. He also considered an offer from Mercedes to join their driver development programmer.
Verstappen became the youngest driver to start a World Championship race through joining Toro Rosso's race drivers’ line-up with Carlos Sainz as his teammate, in his Grand Prix debut as a full-time driver at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix at the age of 17 years, 166 days—breaking Jaime Alguersuari's existing record by almost two years.[69] In this first race, Verstappen ran in points-scoring positions until he was forced to retire due to an engine failure.[70] However, at the subsequent race in Malaysia, Verstappen qualified sixth and finished the race in seventh place, scoring his first Formula One points aged 17 years, 180 days, breaking the record of the then-youngest driver to score World Championship points.[71]

At the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision with Romain Grosjean, after clipping the back of Grosjean's Lotus on the approach to the tight first corner, Sainte Devote, and crashed into the barriers at high speed.[72][73] Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty for causing the accident, and was branded "dangerous" by Williams driver Felipe Massa

Verstappen continued to regularly finish in the points as well as achieving his best finish of the 2015 season in Hungary by finishing fourth,[75] and equalled this result at the United States Grand Prix.[76] At the end of the season, Verstappen received three awards at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony, for "Rookie of the Year", "Personality of the Year" and "Action of the Year", for his overtake on Felipe Nasr on the outside of the Blanchimont corner at the Belgian Grand Prix

Verstappen began the 2016 season at Toro Rosso, again alongside Sainz.[79] Verstappen qualified fifth for the opening race of the season in Australia, but during the race made several radio calls to his team due to frustration at being behind Sainz on track before Verstappen's Toro Rosso came into contact with his teammate's car whilst attempting to pass him with three laps to go, and he eventually finished tenth.[80] Verstappen enjoyed a more successful weekend at the following race in Bahrain, finishing sixth to score Toro Rosso's first-ever points at the Sakhir circuit.

Red Bull (2016–present)

2016 season

On 5 May 2016, following the Russian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing announced that Verstappen would be replacing Daniil Kvyat from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, with Kvyat returning to Toro Rosso.[82] According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, "Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him the opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing."[83] After qualifying fourth for the Spanish Grand Prix,[84] Verstappen rose to second behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out of the race.[85] Verstappen took the race lead as he was placed on a two-stop rather than the same three-stop strategy as Ricciardo, and he held off Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen in the later stages of the race to take his first Formula One victory.[86] By doing so he displaced Sebastian Vettel as the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One Grand Prix at the age of 18 years and 228 days.[5]

In his first eight races with Red Bull, he achieved six top-five finishes, including four podiums

During the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen collided with Räikkönen at the first corner, pushed Vettel, Räikkönen and Pérez wide at Les Combes, and aggressively blocked Räikkönen on the Kemmel straight.[88] Verstappen was criticised for his driving, with Räikkönen saying that he "was going to cause a huge accident sooner or later." Christian Horner noted that the driving was "on the edge", and that Verstappen will "look at it and learn for future races."[89] In September, Formula One director Charlie Whiting called in Verstappen for a discussion, and later gave him a 'gentle warning' due to his aggressive driving.[90] However, in October, drivers' concerns about Verstappen's defensive tactics led the FIA to disallow moving under braking.[91]

At the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified fourth.[92] In a rain affected race, he almost hit the barrier after he slid on the main straight due to a loss of traction, causing oversteer.[93] After an additional tyre change from intermediates back to rain tyres, he ran in 16th place with just 15 laps remaining. Verstappen then made several overtakes in quick succession during the closing laps to eventually finish on the podium in third place.[94] He received considerable praise for his performance: rival team Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff, labelled it "The Verstappen Show", and described Verstappen's drive as "physics..being redefined".[95][96][97] However, Verstappen came under criticism from four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who stated that Verstappen had pushed him off the track at the Junção corner late in the race. The race stewards did not share Vettel's view and decided that no reprimand was warranted

2017 season

During the first 14 races of the 2017 season, Verstappen suffered seven retirements, four due to mechanical issues,[99] and three due to first lap collisions in Spain, Austria and Singapore.[100] Of the races he finished, however, he claimed a third place in China, and in another five races he finished fourth or fifth.[87]

From the Malaysian Grand Prix onward, Verstappen enjoyed a surge of success. He won his second Formula One race at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, a day after his 20th birthday, passing then three-time champion Lewis Hamilton for the lead in the early stages of the race.[101] He finished second in the following race in Japan.[102] He then finished third at the United States Grand Prix, but was classified fourth after his final lap overtake on Kimi Räikkönen was deemed illegal.[103] He won his third Formula One race at the Mexican Grand Prix, after passing Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap.[104]

2018 season

In the first six races of the season, Verstappen had been involved in at least one incident in each race. In Australia, he qualified fourth but fell behind Kevin Magnussen at the start.[105] In his attempts to retake the position he ran wide multiple times and damaged his car, with a spin causing him to fall further down the order. He recovered to eventually finish the race in sixth place.[106] At the next race in Bahrain, he crashed during qualifying and started in 15th place.[107] He had a productive first lap after which he found himself in the points while challenging Lewis Hamilton. He attempted an overtake on the reigning World Champion at the start of lap two, but collided with the Mercedes driver and suffered a puncture that ultimately led to suspension damage, forcing him out of the race.[108]

At the next race in China, Verstappen qualified fifth and had moved up to third at the end of the first lap.[109] Both Red Bull drivers pitted for fresh tyres during a safety car which left them with a tyre advantage over the front-runners ahead. In an overtake attempt on Sebastian Vettel for third place, Verstappen collided with the championship leader, causing him to fall to eighth and receive a 10-second penalty.[110] He recovered to fourth place, with his penalty causing him to be classified fifth. Teammate Ricciardo went on to win the race.[111] In Azerbaijan, Verstappen was embroiled in a race-long battle with Ricciardo for fourth place. After numerous position changes between the two teammates during the race, Ricciardo ran into the back of Verstappen during an overtake attempt from which the Dutchman aggressively defended, causing the retirement of both cars.[112] Both drivers were blamed by the team and reprimanded by the stewards.[113] Verstappen bounced back in Spain with his first podium of the season by finishing third behind the Mercedes drivers, holding off Sebastian Vettel. However, the race was also not without incident as he had run into the back of Lance Stroll during the virtual safety car period, causing minor front wing damage

and took the lead of the race into the first corner, overtaking the fast-starting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen earned his fifth career win in Mexico.[132][133] He was poised to win the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, having overtaken Räikkönen, Vettel, Bottas, and Hamilton. However, he collided with Force India driver Esteban Ocon who was trying to unlap himself on faster tyres.[134] Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident. After the collision with Ocon, Verstappen finished in second place behind Hamilton. During an argument with Ocon after the race, Verstappen pushed the Force India driver, for which he was given two days of "public service" as a penalty by the FIA.[135] He then finished his season with another podium as he finished third in Abu Dhabi.[136]

Verstappen ended the season in fourth place in the championship with 249 points, claiming two wins, eleven podium finishes, and two fastest laps..

2019 season

In 2019 Red Bull switched from Renault to Honda power units.[138] After Ricciardo moved to the Renault team for 2019, Verstappen was joined at Red Bull by Pierre Gasly.[139] Verstappen qualified in fourth and finished third in Australia, the first podium finish for a Honda-powered driver since the 2008 British Grand Prix.[140] Verstappen was on course for a second third-place finish in Bahrain before a late safety car prevented him from overtaking Charles Leclerc's ailing Ferrari, keeping him in fourth place.[141] Two more fourth-place finishes followed in China and Azerbaijan, and a podium in Spain in third place.[142][143][144] In Monaco, Verstappen qualified in third place. He was released into the path of Valtteri Bottas during the drivers' pit stops, gaining second place but receiving a 5-second penalty as a result. Verstappen crossed the line in second place but was demoted to fourth by the penalty.[145]

In Canada, Verstappen's final lap in the second qualifying session was hampered by a red flag brought out by Kevin Magnussen's crash. This caused Verstappen to qualify 11th and start the race in ninth place.[146][147] He later recovered to finish fifth.[148] In France he started and finished in fourth place.[149] In Austria, Verstappen started third but suffered a poor start, dropping down to eighth. After a charge towards the front, he made his way up to second before controversially passing Leclerc for the lead of the race with three laps to go.[150] This marked the first Honda-powered race victory since the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.[151][152] In Britain, Verstappen, running in third place,[153] was hit from behind during an overtake attempt by Sebastian Vettel and spun into the gravel. Verstappen was able to continue and crossed the line in fifth place.[154]

The wet and chaotic German Grand Prix began similarly to the race in Austria for Verstappen, as a poor start caused him to fall behind. However, he would inherit the lead midway through the race after a crash by race leader Hamilton.[155] Verstappen would go on to extend his lead after the track began to dry, claiming his second victory of the season.[156] In Hungary, he claimed the first pole position of his career and led most of the race before being passed in the closing laps by Hamilton, who had made another stop for fresh tyres in a gamble to catch the leader.

Before the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen received a new teammate in Alexander Albon after Pierre Gasly was demoted back to Toro Rosso.[159] In the race, Verstappen had a poor start and collided with Kimi Räikkönen at the first corner, resulting in suspension damage and causing Verstappen's first retirement of the season.[160] In Italy, he did not set a time during qualifying after his car lost power in Q1, but he was already required to start from the back of the grid due to an engine component penalty.[161] After damaging his front wing on the first lap, he recovered to finish the race in eighth place.[162] Third and fourth-place finishes followed in Singapore and Russia respectively.[163][164] After suffering damage in a first-lap collision with Charles Leclerc in Japan, Verstappen suffered his second retirement of the season.[165]

In Mexico, he qualified in first place after setting the fastest lap-time of the session, before being handed a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags after a crash by Valtteri Bottas.[166] Verstappen suffered a puncture early in the race after making contact with Bottas, falling to the back of the field before eventually recovering to sixth place.[167] A third-place finish in the United States followed, before Verstappen took the second pole position of his career with a 1:07.508 pole lap time in Brazil.[168][169] In a chaotic race, he passed Lewis Hamilton for the lead on two occasions before going on to claim his third victory of the season.[170] Verstappen ended the season with a second-place finish in Abu Dhabi.[171]

Verstappen finished the 2019 season in third place in the championship with 278 points. He claimed three race victories, nine podium finishes, two pole positions, and three fastest laps.