Current Max Verstappen

2015 sees the arrival of the youngest driver ever to sit in an F1 car. Max Verstappen was born on 30th September 1997 and, assuming he makes the grid in Australia, will only be 17 years and 167 days, beating Jaime Alguersuaris' record by 1 year and 323 days (assuming my maths is correct).

How can such a young man be ready for F1? As the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen Max started racing karts at 4½ years old. In 2006 he won the Belgian Minimax Championship in the KF5 category and in 2007 he won both the Dutch and Belgian titles as well as the Belgian Cadet Championship.

In 2009 he won the KF5 Flemish Championship and moved up to International Karting. In 2010 Max finished 2nd in the KF3 World Cup, won the Euro Series and the WSK World Series. In 2011 he again won the WSK World Series and moved up the KF2 class winning the WSK Master Series and the South Garda Winter Cup in 2012. In 2013, at 15 years of age, Verstappen won the World KZ Championship, which is highest level of karting.

For 2014 Max moved up to European Formula 3. He finished 3rd in the Championship winning 10 of the 33 races, more than those who finished above him in the title race. Max was recruited into the Red Bull Young Driver Programme in August 2014 and only 6 days later was announced as one of the drivers for Toro Rosso in F1 for 2015. Apparently he was also being courted by Mercedes for their young driver programme so you have to wonder how much the pull of an F1 seat at Toro Rosso drove the decision to go with Red Bull.

Having already taken part in 3 Friday sessions as a test driver Max Verstappen is the youngest person ever to take part in a Grand Prix weekend. If he acquits himself well during 2015 many will say it is an inspired decision. If he turns into a mobile chicane or treats F1 like a destruction derby I'm sure many questions will be asked as to why someone not even old enough to qualify for a driving licence in his home country is allowed to get behind the wheel of a car at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Future Champion? One season (or even one race) wonder? 2015 will be very interesting for Max Verstappen.
 
Well Max is defiant as ever which is what you expect from a free spirit so he had better keep his nose clean this weekend or there will be a witch hunt if he is at the centre of an accident
 
siffert_fan I 'll point to Riccardo Patrese - Monza 1978 start line incident which lead to Ronnie Peterson dying from his injuries. Basically a lot of drivers then said they did not want to be in the same race as Patrese and wanted him banned because he was a menace to others

If Verstappen tangles with a Ferrari then he's going to be in for a savage condemnation from the Italian press
 
Kewee Yeah James Hunt was especially very critical of Patrese but it was previous races where his erratic driving apparently created alarm for people.. To top off the farce the FIA had to hold a kangaroo court to deem whether Patrese was save to participate in the next race with a lot of drivers threatening to boycott

Now Verstappen certainly has not helped himself stoking the flames of the Ferrari drivers so he'd better keep well clear of the red cars or he will be lynched at Monza
 
Verstappen's arrogance has the potential to create a tragedy, I just hope another driver doesn't pay with injury or worse. He will be offside with far more than just the Ferrari drivers by the end of the season.
 
Kewee....let's not also forget the spectators, and course workers who may suffer because of this boy's attitude.

Patrese had never made any sort of declaration like this idiot by saying, " I would rather drive them off the track."
 
As shown by FP1 it is unlikely that Verstappen will be anywhere near a Ferrari due to a shortage of engine power. They just need to be careful if they are lapping him.
 
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I have no memory of a driver receiving a black and white flag warning so early in their career, in fact I'm struggling to remember any driver receiving the black and white flag. It appears to be a threat that keeps drivers in line without actually needing to be used. Verstappen may be the first if he doesn't drop the arrogance and start to listen and learn.
 
Hamberg ...... Just my opinion but I don't believe Hamilton or Vettel put other drivers in danger to the degree Verstappen has.
Correct, they put the other drivers in danger to a higher degree than Verstappen by colliding with them directly which I believe Verstappen did not do and there is no point in implying that there was a greater degree of danger to his action, as a collision between Verstappen and Raikkonen never took place and therefore we cannot judge on the outcome of a potential incident.
 
Rutherford ..... All the current and past F1 drivers including Damon Hill, just interviewed on Sky Sport, have stated the same, it was the location of the incident on the Kemmel straight the elevated the danger to a whole new level. Of course you can imply the outcome of contact at 200+mph, Hill pointed out the close proximity of spectators on the Kemmel straight and said how easy it would be for a car to clear the safety fence at those speeds. Experienced drivers, rightly or wrongly do collide sometimes, but they choose the places where they can increase their level of risk, the Kemmel straight is certainly not one of them.
 
Rutherford ..... All the current and past F1 drivers including Damon Hill, just interviewed on Sky Sport, have stated the same, it was the location of the incident on the Kemmel straight the elevated the danger to a whole new level.

Weaving isn't a risk which hasn't been created by other drivers in previous years. I musn't agree with former F1 Drivers, they have their opinions, you have yours, I have mine.
Hulkenberg praised Verstappen for his maneuver against Raikkonen in an interview with the german press.
Hülkenberg lobt Verstappen: „Würde mir auch auf die Schulter klopfen“
 
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