Max Verstappen Four-time Formula 1 world champion was crowned in Las Vegasentering a select club that he only shares with five other pilots in all of history. The legendary achievement adds to the string of triumphs achieved by the Dutchman, which has made him one of the most successful men in motorsportswith an enviable sports career since its beginnings.
A child prodigy
Son of also the driver Jos Verstappen, Max trained since he was a child to reach the top. He has never hidden the harshness of his father, who even hit him on the helmet already abandon him at a gas station for not winning a karting championship. Even so, in 2013 he was crowned world champion, and made the jump to single-seaters the following year.
Mercedes and Red Bull fought for him, although the energy drink team acquired his services after promising him a seat at Toro Rosso for 2015, and At 17 years, 5 months and 15 days he became the youngest driver in history to debut in Formula 1a record that he maintains to this day.
He took away the titular seat of Red Bull to Daniil Kvyat in 2016, and achieved his first victory in the 2016 Spanish GP, the first with a competitive car. He quickly took over the lead of the team after overtaking Daniel Ricciardo, and the entire paddock predicted a future full of success for the Dutchman.
Absolute dominance at its best
After a controversial ending, Max Verstappen defeated Lewis Hamilton in 2021 and won his first World Cup. The new regulations favored Red Bull, and ‘Super Max’ swept the next two championships, breaking countless records in 2023 thanks to its overwhelming superiority. winning 19 of the 22 races that were played during the season.
Everything indicated that the dominance would continue in 2024, since the first grand prizes were a Red Bull monopoly, but when the Miami GP arrived, The improvements introduced by McLaren and the subsequent departure of Adrian Newey equalized the pace.
The inconsistent speed of the RB20 and the inability of Checo Pérez to support Verstappen’s candidacy have relegated the energy drink team to the third position in the constructors’ championship.
If the championship ended like this, the Dutchman would become the third driver in the history of Formula 1 to win the World Championship with a car that is not among the two best on the grid (taking the builders title as a reference).
I would share the honor with Keke Rosberg (who was proclaimed champion after the fatal accident of Gilles Villeneuve and the very serious accident of Didier Pironi in Hockenheim) and his father-in-law, Nelson Piquet.
With his fourth World Cup under his arm, Max Verstappen is already one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1. At 27 years old, the new emperor of the ‘Great Circus’ still has a lot to say in motorsport, and despite having declared that He doesn’t plan to stay much longer.this is the same refrain that many have repeated in the past. Among them, Fernando Alonso, who is still racing at 43 years old.
Three drivers’ titles, 29 victories, 28 pole positions and 44 podiums separate Verstappen from Michael Schumacherfor many the best driver of all time. If the Red Bull team does not fall apart and Max does not lose pace, perhaps in another team in the not too distant future, the Dutchman’s record of achievements can continue to grow uncontrollably, hunting down the greatest after having far surpassed historical figures such as Alonso himself, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel in terms of numbers..