Special day for Max Verstappen! Today he marks 11 years as an F1 driver

09:01, 18 Aug

byCas van de Kleut

August 18 is a special day for Max Verstappen. In 2014, Toro Rosso announced that the Dutchman would get a seat in Formula 1 in 2015. Today marks exactly eleven years since it was revealed that the then sixteen-year-old Verstappen would make his debut in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Verstappen drove his first official meters in a Formula 1 weekend at the age of seventeen, but it was already known when he was sixteen that he would join the grid in 2015. This made him, to this day, the youngest driver ever to compete in Formula 1.

Verstappen announced as Toro Rosso driver eleven years ago

At Toro Rosso, he became the teammate of Carlos Sainz, who also made his debut that year. In 2015, the Dutchman outperformed his teammate, notably achieving two fourth-place finishes in Hungary and the United States. He finished the season twelfth in the championship.

After several races with Toro Rosso in 2016, he moved to Red Bull Racing, replacing Daniil Kvyat, who was demoted to the team’s junior squad. In his very first race for Red Bull, he won the Spanish Grand Prix, becoming, at eighteen, the youngest driver ever to win a Formula 1 race.

Verstappen's successes in Formula 1

Verstappen’s major successes began in 2021, when he won his first World Championship. He then repeated this feat in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In 2023, he shattered his own record for most wins in a single season, taking nineteen victories after winning fifteen in 2022.

Currently, the McLaren drivers appear to be the favorites for the 2025 title. Oscar Piastri leads the championship, followed by Lando Norris at nine points behind. Verstappen is 88 points adrift. The Dutchman has admitted several times that he is not competing for the title this season. In Hungary, he even stated that he does not expect to win a race in 2025.