Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen was born on 30 September 1997 in Hasselt, Belgium, the son of former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen and former karting racer Sophie Kumpen. He began his motorsport career in karting at the age of four and, at just 15 in 2013, simultaneously held three international karting titles (two European championships and one world championship), an unprecedented feat at the time. In 2014 he moved up to European Formula 3.

He joined the Red Bull Junior Team in August 2014 and made his Formula 1 debut for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015 at age 17, the youngest driver in Formula 1 history at the time. In 2016 he was promoted to Red Bull Racing mid-season and won on his debut for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix, at the time the youngest race winner ever.

Between 2021 and 2024 Verstappen won four consecutive Drivers’ World Championships, including a record-breaking 2023 season with 19 wins from 22 races. The 2025 season proved turbulent: after a weak start that left him as much as 104 points behind leader Oscar Piastri, he won six of the final nine races and also took victory at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, but ultimately missed out on a fifth title by just two points to Lando Norris.

Having lost the title, Verstappen had to give up car number 1; rather than return to his previous number 33, he chose number 3, formerly carried by his long-time Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, whose personal approval he sought for the switch. Away from Formula 1, Verstappen made his GT3 debut in 2025 and won on his first attempt at the Nürburgring Nordschleife; with partner Kelly Piquet, daughter of former champion Nelson Piquet, he became a father to a daughter that same year.