Max verstappen
inspired by novel Max Verstappen: The Inside Track on a Formula One Star
Early Life
Max Verstapen was born September 30th, 1997, in Hasselt Belgium to parents Joz Verstapen and Sophie Kumpmen. Max grew up in a family of race drivers, with his Dad being a Formula One (F1) driver and his mom having experience in junior karting. This racing spirit translated to Max himself. Ever since Max was young, he has been karting with his father and mother. At the age of 4 they let him go karting for the first time after crying non-stop and begging his parents. Ever since his first lap, Max was the fastest on the track. By the time he was 7, he had won his first race, and by the age of 9, he was champion in Belgium and the Netherlands. Throughout his karting career, his Dad dedicated his life to supporting Max, spending weekends in different European countries, tending to the car, and helping him wherever he could. When Max turned 13, he had swept the CIK-FIA World Cup to future Red Bull teammate Alex Albon. By 16, his final year in karting, he was World and European champion in the discipline's two most competitive and professional classes. At 17 years of age he was the youngest F1 driver joining the Toro Rosso Red Bull team with Carlos Saints. Max was the youngest Formula One race winner at the age of 18.
Family issues
Pictured: Max Verstappen and his father, Jos.
Max grew up with separated parents and would eventually leave his mother to live with his father full-time. Even though he chose to live with his dad, who was strict and unemotional, his mom was the more caring parent. Max found it difficult to have hid Dad as his coach. His father would often tell him he was not doing things right and that he was disappointed in Max. At one point, it was said that Max Verstappen was leading a race in his karting career and spun out and crashed. His father was so angry with Max, he did not speak to him for a week. Some of this affected Max negatively, but it also motivated Max to do well.
Max during his first year in F1
Max and his Dad
Changes coming to the sport
Throughout the years, Formula One has been a difficult sport for new drivers to join. Most drivers get into the sport because they have a parent that is or was a driver or their family is quite wealthy. Austrian billionaire and F1 Team principal, Toto Wolff is a prime example of this. He says, "If I were to start over from a working-class family, it would be impossible for me to be here today," Lewis Hamilton, F1's sole Black driver on the grid and an outspoken advocate for diversity in motorsports. “He's spot-on: A single season in Formula 3—a stepping stone to F1—costs drivers more than $1 million to participate." Recently, advancements have been made in the Formula One game allowing other drivers to join who in the past would not have been able to participate. Drivers who are able to afford a racing simulator can practice and hone in on their skills. A driver that has done this is Jarno Opmeer, the Alpha Romeo esport driver of the tournament. Red Bull decided to take a gamble on him and make him one of their reserve drivers.
On The rise
As Max Verstappen was working his way through his junior career some critics called him a sensational talent. He skipped GP2 to drive in F1 at the age of 17 for Toro Rosso at the Australian Grand Prix, making him the youngest F1 driver ever. When Max Verstappen joined F1, he struggled with his temper. He got that from his father, Jos, who was always hot-headed and felt the need to retaliate when something did not go their way. This showed through with his first teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. as they hated each other. Dysfunction seems to motivate Max as he outscored Carlos in his first season and went on to get promoted to the main team, Red Bull racing over Carlos. This was the same year Max went on to be the youngest-ever race winner at the age of 18. After that, he would go on to outscore his teammate every season in F1, making him one of the most significant drivers to come out in F1 since Lewis Hamilton.
In pursuit of History
As the 2021 season approached, everyone expected the last year's champions, Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes Team, to be the fastest on track. But in a strange turn of events, the Red Bull Team began the season as the fastest on track. Max knew that this could be his year after struggling to overcome the powerhouse that was Mercedes for the past few years. As the season opener approached, fans were speculating about what team would come out on top at the first race.
Red Bull was rapid in qualifying, but Mercedes was too, even after a bad winter testing, and in a strange twist of events, Ferrari was in the mix too. This caused the fans to get excited at what would be a three-way battle for the championship. In the end, it was a two-way battle, with Hamilton seeming to win one weekend and then Verstappen the next; it was a spectacle for the fans for the first time in 10 years. There was an actual championship battle between the two teams. Not only that, but both drivers that could win it were in pursuit of history, with Hamilton needing one more title to surpass Schumacher's record of 17 world titles and Verstappen attempting to become the first Dutch world champion.
King Of THE WORLD
As the season ended, it looked like Mercedes would win the championship. But there still was an ongoing fight between Lewis and Max. Going into the last race of the year; both drivers were tied for points with 369.5 each. So, whoever won this race would come out as a world champion. Throughout the whole week, there was tension between the two in qualifying. Max seemed to lock in the pole with Lewis Hamilton right behind him and Mclaren Lando Nordis in 3. The two teams had made an almost perfect ending for a season with two drivers tied at the same number of points, potioned 1 and 2 in qualifying and fighting to make history. When the race started, Lewis took over Max Verstappen on the first corner, and it looked like it would stay that way till the end of the race. But on lap 53, a driver crashed into the barrier, making a safety car come out. At this moment, Red Bull saw their chance of sending Max in for new tires. As Lewis stayed out with new tires, the car pulled up behind the safety car with three lap cars between Max and Lewis. It would make it nearly impossible for Max to get through the cars in front of him and win in just one lap. But then the race director Michael Massi allowed the cars to go through, having Max and Lewis right beside each other as the race began for one last lap. As the race restarted, Max overtook Hamilton for the driver championship and his place in history.
