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F1 Drivers 2026 - Max Verstappen

33 Max Verstappen

Max Emilian Verstappen was born on 30 September 1997 in Hasselt, Belgium, as the son of Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen. Verstappen has both Dutch and Belgian nationality but drives under a Dutch license.

The beginning of Max Verstappen's career

Verstappen began his karting career at the age of four. He drove in the Mini Junior Championship in his province Limburg (Belgium). In 2006, he became Belgian champion in the Rotax Max Minimax class. In 2007, he won the Dutch title. In 2009 Verstappen joined Team Pex Racing, and won the Flemish minimax championship and the Belgian KF5 championship. In 2010 Verstappen decided to go international. He was contracted by CGR and drove the world and European championships for them. During the KF3-championship, Verstappen ended up second behind Alexander Albon. In 2013 he won the European KF and KZ Championship, and at the age of 15 he won the World Championship in 2013 at Varennes-sur-Allier, France.

The race to F1 for Verstappen

In 2013 he had his first experience in a racing car. This came at the circuit of Pembrey on the 11th of October. During the winter months of 2013, Verstappen drove for several Formula Renault 2.0 teams. In December 2013, Verstappen tested a Dallara F311 Formula 3 car from Motopark. On 16 January 2014, it was announced that Verstappen would make his racing debut in the Florida Winter Series. Verstappen won the races at Palm Beach and Homestead in this championship. After this, he made the switch to Formula 3 and took ten victories for Van Amersfoort Racing. It earned him a third place in the championship.

The debut of Max Verstappen in Formula 1

At the age of 17 he made his Formula 1 debut for Toro Rosso during the first free practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix. Verstappen would also be in action in Austin and Interlagos for the Red Bull junior team. In 2015 he already scored points in his second race, finishing seventh in the Malaysian Grand Prix, after starting from sixth place. With 49 points he finished twelfth in the championship.

The transition to Red Bull

In 2016, he started the season at Toro Rosso, but after the fourth Grand Prix of the year, he got the chance to join Red Bull Racing. Verstappen won his first Grand Prix for his new employer in Spain, breaking the record for the youngest Grand Prix winner.

Problems with Max Verstappen's car

After a solid season of 2016, the car disappointed in 2017. Nevertheless, Verstappen was able to win races in Malaysia and Mexico. In 2018, he had eleven podiums, including two victories, and finished fourth with 249 points in the final standings.

Max Verstappen salary

When Max Verstappen started in Formula 1, his salary was about 500,000 euros a year. Of course, this rose at a rapid pace, when his performance and thus his career also took off. In 2017, his annual salary was already estimated at 2,500,000 euros. Verstappen has now extended his contract with Red Bull Racing and receives a salary of 13,500,000 million euros per year. That's not all, of course, because this is only the basic salary he receives from Red Bull Racing every year. For every point he earns in the championship, he also earns 43,000 euros. In 2018, Verstappen scored 249 points. He also collects at least 500,000 from his sponsorship money. With the salary of Max Verstappen, we certainly do not have to feel sorry for him.

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