Max Verstappen has earned the prestige of being the youngest driver ever to burn up the track in the Formula 1 Grand Prix. At the very youthful age of 17 years, this budding champion has racing in his blood and is perfectly at home behind the wheel of a machine that travels over 240 mph. Though an adolescent, Max displays not only the physical strength required to handle a race car, but also the mental fortitude to exhibit a judgement on the track well beyond his years.
Born in Belgium into a family of racing stars, his parents both have experience behind the wheel. Verstappen’s father Jos, is a former Formula 1 driver who was a teammate at one time of Michael Shumacher, notably one of the best drivers of all time. Sophie, mom to Max, was once a very successful kart driver. So it is no great surprise that Max had the racing bug from a very young age, acquiring his first kart at the age of four. He began racing almost immediately after the acquisition and began his career of winning just about every race he entered, quickly making a name for himself on the the international stage.
Max conquered Europe and the world in the karting category, graduating to Formula 3 where he caught the attention of Red Bull. This Austrian beverage company owns two Formula 1 teams, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Torro Rosso, which is the team where junior riders enter the fold. Max Verstappen was invited to join the rider development program at Torro Rosso and not surprisingly, within a week of training, Red Bull made the official announcement that Max would drive for the Torro Rosso team in the 2015 season.
Driving under the Dutch flag and wearing the number 33, Verstappen experienced his inaugural F1 race two weeks ago in Australia, where mechanical issues with the car held him back from showing his awesome skill. Just hours ago at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which is being held just outside of Kuala Lumpur at the Sepang International Circuit, Max qualified while driving in rainy conditions, for 6th position on the grid for tomorrow’s race. At a clocked time of 1:40.793, Max has a fantastic position on the grid, giving him a solid chance at finishing in the top 10 on Sunday in only his second Formula 1 race ever.
All of this is pretty amazing since Max Verstappen is not old enough to drive a car in his home country!
