Verstappen to become youngest F1 driver
YOUNGEST DRIVERS
MILAN: Sixteen-year-old Max Verstappen will become the youngest driver in Formula One history next season after being unveiled as Toro Rosso’s new signing.
The Dutch teenager, son of ex-f1 driver Jos Verstappen, currently races in Formula Three with the Van Amersfoort Racing team having cut his racing teeth on the karting circuit. He will partner Russian Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull feeder team with 24-yearold Frenchman Jean-eric Vergne deemed surplus to requirements.
“Ever since I was seven years old, Formula One has been my career goal, so this opportunity is truly a dream come true,” Verstappen said on the team’s website.
Verstappen, who turns 17 next month, will beat by almost two years the age record currently held by Spain’s Jaime Alguersuari, who was 19 years and 125 days when he made his debut at the Hungarian GP in 2009, also for Toro Rosso.
He won the world go-karting championship last year and has topped the podium in eight out of 27 races since graduating to the highly competitive Formula Three Championship. Jaime Alguersuari
19 years, 125 days 2009 Hungarian GP
RED BULL SEE NO RISK Helmut Marko, motorsport consultant to the Red Bull, told the official formula1.com website on Tuesday that Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso were not taking a risk in putting him in their lineup next year.
Verstappen, who will be 17 next month, is still too young to drive on public roads in his home country and will have experienced only a year of single seater racing when he makes his first grid appearance in 2015.
“He will be 17 when he has his first race, which is pretty young, but I don’t think it is a risk,” said Marko.
RIVALRY ‘LIKE POKER’ LONDON: Former world champion Lewis Hamilton has likened his tussle for this season’s Formula One title with Mercedes col league Nico Rosberg to a game of poker. “I’m racing against a guy who has the same car as me. We both have access to exactly the same data and feedback, so it is really hard to try and be ahead.
“It’s a little bit like playing poker. You have a set of cards and the other guy is not sup posed to know what you’ve got but Nico and I can see each other’s cards, so then it’s more difficult to beat each other.”