In September 2014 a rather shocking announcement came from Toro Rosso. Jean Eric-Vergne, who had just completed his third full season in Formula 1, would be replaced for the season by rookie Max Verstappen—a 17-year-old. Many were outraged and stunned at the prospect of a teenager driving in a Formula One car; particularly as he did not yet have a driver’s license.
At the age of 16, he took his first practice in the 2014 car at Suzuka, and looked to have performed well before an issue with the car ended his session prematurely. Before the season was over, he made a few more appearances. Danil Kvyat was given a promotion to the senior team at Red Bull after Sebastian Vettel announced he was leaving the team; Carlos Sainz Jr was announced as Max’s team mate not long after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
In winter testing, Max showed an early glimpse of his maturity: he rarely made mistakes, gave good feedback to his engineers and had a strong presence in front of the media. All of this coming from a youngster who had just one year’s racing experience.
Arriving in Melbourne, Max’s debut was one of the biggest talking points of the weekend. He certainly did not disappoint. Despite qualifying twelfth on the grid, Max managed to creep through the field on the harder tyre and make it last, pulling off some great moves in the process. Unfortunately, his race was brought to a premature end not very long after his pit stop with an engine failure.
Malaysia gave Max the chance to really show off his talents. With a sudden downpour in Q2 Max had managed to produce a time capable of progressing further on in qualifying, beating the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and the Force Indias. After a rain soaked Q3 session the young teen put his STR10 sixth on the grid; a stunning performance by someone of such little experience.
The race in Malaysia was a scorcher, tyre strategies were key and the Toro Rosso team managed to pull off a great result, finishing sixth and seventh ahead of the senior Red Bull team. Max showed great skill and maturity in his driving to eventually beat his team mate to a seventh place finish. In doing so he broke the record for the youngest point scorer—a record he will now hold forever because of next season’s new Super License rules.
The most recent race in China was another great showing for the young teenager, starting despite qualifying thirteenth on the grid in a very what was a very close session. Max fought his way through the pack to fight through to as high as seventh place. In doing so he was pulling off overtaking manoeuvres looking like a seasoned professional.
Martin Brundle claims we are looking at a megastar of the future, with all the hallmarks of a champion of Senna’s and Schumacher’s calibre. This is a very bold statement considering the boy is only 17. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen has shown great composure and maturity for his age, and does have a bright and possibly long future in Formula One.
