Verstappen primed to make a big name for himself
IT sounds like a recipe for disaster: an 18-year-old sportsman living alone in Monte Carlo without even the skills to cook himself a good meal.
You could be forgiven for fearing the worst. But Max Verstappen is no ordinary 18-year-old, and no ordinary sportsman. He is Formula One’s youngest and brightest star, casting all records aside on a path many believe will take him right to the top.
They are falling quicker than even this precocious teenager could have imagined. It took just one season of racing cars to be promoted to Formula One. It was just over 12 months to make it to Red Bull. And most remarkably of all, just one race with Red Bull to become a winner for the first time, two weeks ago in the Spanish Grand Prix, eclipsing the previous mark for youngest winner by nearly three years.
Speaking from a giant motorhome docked on Monaco’s harbour, Verstappen said: “I set one or two years to do this, but in go-karting, Formula Three and then Formula One, it’s always been faster than I had expected. Instead of saying I have to do it now, you stay a bit more calm.”
That is about the best word to describe this astonishing talent: calm. Far more experienced drivers would have buckled under the pressure of chasing Kimi Raikkonen in Barcelona, but he did not.
The circumstances of his promotion for that race, replacing Daniil Kvyat mid-season, could have proved too much to handle.
In conversation, he is too relaxed, confident enough to speak his mind and even throw in the odd joke about Lewis Hamilton, a driver with whom there are many parallels, particularly the close bond with a racing father.
After his first win, there were a few drinks in celebration — he preferred to hop back to Belgium, where he grew up, for jet skiing with friends — but Verstappen does not take Hamilton’s recommendation for tequila, or any other tipple for that matter.
In every other respect, especially behind the wheel, he is well beyond his age. He’s been groomed for this.
His father Jos, a Formula One driver of 106 starts and a teammate to Michael Schumacher, set up their karting workshop on an industrial estate in Maasbracht, half an hour’s drive from Maastricht.
In Formula Three two years ago, he won 10 races, more than any other driver. With Mercedes circling, Red Bull made their move and immediately put him in Formula One, becoming the youngest ever driver at 17 years and 166 days.
All is now in place for Verstappen to fulfil his seemingly boundless talent. First he has to take on Monte Carlo today, the most famous circuit of all. — ©