Max Verstappen has been in Formula 1 for eleven seasons and has never once been an ordinary driver in it. He arrived at 17, too young to hold a road licence in most of the countries he raced in. He won at 18. He then spent four consecutive years as world champion and, in 2023, won 19 of 22 races, a strike rate nobody in the sport’s history has matched. In 2026 he is sixth in the championship in a car he has publicly compared to a turtle. The interesting part is that he chose to stay.

The prodigy

Verstappen was born in Hasselt, Belgium, on 30 September 1997, to a Formula 1 father and a karting champion mother, and he was in a kart by four. Jos Verstappen ran his son’s karting career with a severity that has become part of the legend. The results justified it. Max won everything in European karting, jumped straight to Formula 3 in 2014, won ten races as a rookie, and was signed by Red Bull that August. Toro Rosso put him in a race seat for 2015 without a single Formula 2 start. The FIA was so alarmed it rewrote the super licence rules to stop anyone doing it again.

Red Bull promoted him to the senior team four races into 2016, and he won on debut at the Spanish Grand Prix aged 18 years and 228 days. The next four years were an education in patience: Mercedes was unbeatable, Red Bull’s Renault and then Honda engines were not, and Verstappen collected wins in the gaps while learning to stop crashing into people.

The dynasty

The 2021 title fight with Lewis Hamilton went to the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi and remains the most argued-over afternoon in the sport’s modern history. What followed was less controversial and more crushing. Red Bull built the best car of the ground-effect era and Verstappen drove it as if it were a personal insult when anyone finished within ten seconds. 2022 brought 15 wins, 2023 brought 19, and the 2024 title was won in a car that was often only the third quickest, which his admirers regard as the real proof of his ability.

2026: the turtle season

Then the ground shifted. Lando Norris and McLaren took the 2025 championship, Verstappen dropped from number 1 back to his permanent 3, and the 2026 regulations exposed Red Bull’s new in-house power unit as a step behind Mercedes. He sits sixth on 127 points after 13 rounds. His descriptions of the car have been merciless, including the Monza radio message about being passed on the straights “like a turtle” and a wider complaint that the 2026 cars are “too easy to drive” because energy management has replaced car control as the deciding skill.

Off track, the year has been about a decision. Verstappen confirmed in September that he held serious talks with Mercedes and McLaren before signing a new Red Bull deal, and said there was nothing wrong with that. The team he stayed with is a different one from the team that won him four titles: Laurent Mekies runs it, his long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has gone, and the driver alongside him has changed twice in a season because of Isack Hadjar’s injury. Verstappen’s bet is that Red Bull’s engine gap is closable under the current rules. The 2027 reset is where that bet gets settled.

What he is still chasing

A fifth title would put him level with Juan Manuel Fangio and two behind Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. He has also made no secret of interests beyond Formula 1, including GT racing and his sim racing team, and this season’s Max vs 100 karting event was the latest sign that he sees a racing life after the paddock. For now, the numbers say he is the best driver in a car that cannot show it. Red Bull’s job is to change the second half of that sentence.

Fact file

  • Born: 30 September 1997, Hasselt, Belgium
  • F1 debut: 2015 Australian Grand Prix, Toro Rosso, aged 17
  • First win: 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, aged 18 (youngest ever)
  • World championships: 4 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
  • 2026 team: Red Bull, number 3
  • 2026 standings after round 13: 6th, 127 points

Frequently asked questions

How many championships has Verstappen won?

Four, from 2021 to 2024, all with Red Bull.

How old was he on his F1 debut?

17 years and 166 days at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, still the youngest driver to start a race.

Why is he running number 3?

He used number 1 as champion from 2022 to 2025 and reverted to his permanent 3 after Norris took the 2025 title.

Is he leaving Red Bull?

No. He signed an extension in 2026 after talks with Mercedes and McLaren.