Max Verstappen, a Dutch racing driver, is noted for his aggressive driving style. He now competes in Formula One for the Red Bull Racing team. The athlete has won races in Australia, Mexico, Malaysia, the Silverstone Circuit, Montreal, and Abu Dhabi. After winning the Formula One Drivers’ World Championship in 2021, Verstappen is the reigning World Champion.
Max Verstappen, the 2021 Formula One champion, has not let up his pace heading into the 2022 season. He is once again at the top of the rankings, won six of the nine races so far this season. Max has 20 victories and 13 pole positions as of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He completed his maiden Grand Slam at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix. Verstappen has signed a contract extension that will keep him with Red Bull until at least the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Early Life
Max Emilian Verstappen was born on September 30, 1997, in Hasselt, Belgium. His family’s history is intertwined with motor racing: his father, Jos Verstappen, was a Formula 1 driver who raced for the Netherlands. Sophie and Anthony Kumpen, the mother and uncle, competed in karting and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
The lad was raised around fast vehicles and began driving a Rotax Max Minimax when he was just four years old. He eventually won the Belgian and Dutch championships. Verstappen joined the Pex Racing team in 2009, shortly after his parent’s divorce, and won the KF5 competition.
The adolescent drove the automobile with the touch-and-go engine in 2010. He made his international debut, finishing second at the KF3 World Cup and winning the WSK Euro Series. Max transferred to the highest karting category KZ1 three years later and won the famous tournament at Varennes-sur-Allier, France. Verstappen’s father insisted on his son making his debut in an open-wheel car, and he soon had multiple test drives in Formula Renault.
Biography in Brief
| Name: | Max Verstappen |
| Nick Name: | Mad Max |
| Age: | 24 |
| Born: | 30 September 1997 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Height: | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight: | 148 lbs / 67 kg |
| Country of Origin: | Belgian, Dutch |
| Net Worth: | $200 Million |
| Wife/Girlfriend | Kelly Piquet |
| Relationship Status | Married |
| Kids | 0 |
| Father | Jos Verstappen |
| Mother | Sophie Kumpen |
| Siblings | Victoria Jane Verstappen (Sister) |
| Social Media | Twiiter – Instagram – Facebook |
Max Verstappen Net Worth
Max Verstappen, whose estimated net worth as of 2022 is $200 million, is now paid $54 million annually under his Red Bull deal.
Verstappen has now surpassed Lewis Hamilton, a Mercedes competitor. He is also a seven-time F1 champion. Now he is earning the highest salary in the history of the sport. He is the first Dutch driver to ever win the Formula One World Championship in addition to being the youngest driver to ever compete in Formula 1.
He’ll keep this high income until his contract expires at the end of the 2028 season. In addition to his massive annual salary, he has acquired a massive fan base known as the Orange Army over the years. This swarm of fans wear orange t-shirts to practically every European race, and it is his popularity that makes him one of the most wanted drivers on the grid.
Primary Sponsors
It’s no surprise that his primary sponsors, Red Bull, Jumbo Supermarkets, Ziggo, and G-Star Raw, pay him a lot of money to represent their products. Since then, the buzz around ‘Mad Max’ has deservedly not faded down, with the courageous kid picking up more victories each season.
Verstappen’s mansion features an indoor pool, five massive bedrooms, a gaming room, a wine cellar, and even a home theatre. In addition to this Monaco property, Forbes lists Verstappen’s assets as five other real estate holdings, a private plane, eleven automobiles, and three luxury vessels. Verstappen hopes to profit from his enormous portfolio of stock assets, which is worth roughly $25 million, in addition to his racing career.
Verstappen’s mansion features an indoor pool, five massive bedrooms, a gaming room, a wine cellar, and even a home theatre. In addition to this Monaco property, Forbes lists Verstappen’s assets as five other real estate holdings, a private plane, eleven automobiles, and three luxury vessels. Verstappen hopes to profit from his enormous portfolio of stock assets, which is worth roughly $25 million, in addition to his racing career.
Max Verstappen Girlfriend
His fiancée is Nelson Piquet’s daughter, and she is already pregnant with another former racer.
Kelly Piquet, a 33-year-old Brazilian model, has been dating Verstappen, 24, since 2020. Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian who won three F1 world championships and insulted Lewis Hamilton earlier this season, is her father.
Kelly got involved in the controversy after liking a social media post saying that her father never intended to be racist. Later, he apologized to Hamilton.
Verstappen is not Kelly Piquet’s first love interest from the F1 paddock. She has a daughter with Daniil Kvyat. Kyvat, a Russian driver, competed in F1 for two seasons, 2014-2016 and 2019-2020, during which he dated Kelly.
Kelly has over 900k Instagram followers.
Max Verstappen Career
He began karting at the age of four. Max has already advanced to international karting by 2010. Verstappen finished second in the KF3 World Cup, trailing only Alexander Albon (his eventual future teammate in Formula One at Red Bull Racing). In 2011, Max Verstappen won the WSK Euro Series in a Parilla-powered CRG. In 2012, he defeated CRG driver Felice Tiene to win the WSK Master Series in the KF2 class. Verstappen won the 2013 World KZ championship in KZ1, the highest karting category, at the age of 15 in Varennes-sur-Allier, France.
Max Verstappen would participate for Van Amersfoort Racing in the Formula 3 Championship in 2014. He finished third in the championship behind Esteban Ocon and Tom Blomqvist. During the process, he pleased the top bosses sufficiently to be chosen for the Red Bull Racing junior team. Max made his Formula One debut in 2015 with Red Bull sister team Scuderia Torro Rosso, becoming the sport’s youngest driver ever.
Scuderia Toro Rosso (2015-2016)
Max Verstappen made history in 2015 when he made his debut with Torro Rosso, becoming the youngest driver in Formula One history. He finished seventh in his second race with Torro Rosso, becoming the youngest driver to collect a point in Formula One. Verstappen continued to impress in his maiden season, putting together some fantastic runs and brilliant overtakes. He easily outperformed his much more experienced teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., at the end of the season. Max finished the season 12th in the rankings with 49 points, but Carlos could only manage 18 points. Red Bull opted to put Max in the parent team, Red Bull Racing’s car, from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, replacing Danil Kvyat mid-season.
Racing by Red Bull (2016-2017)
In 2016, Red Bull elevated Max to the parent squad in the middle of the season. From the Spanish Grand Prix forward, Max would join Daniel Ricciardo instead of Danil Kvyat. In a stunning turn of events in his maiden race, Max qualified fourth on the grid in Spain, just behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo, and went on to win the race in Barcelona after both Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided on the first lap.
Max Verstappen’s maiden race victory would make him the youngest Formula One race winner ever, displacing Sebastian Vettel in the process. Throughout the 2016 season, Max showed his promise by continuously pushing Daniel Ricciardo and putting in strong performances on a weekly basis.
Max showed further progress and flashes of brilliance in the 2017 season. He had a string of problems at the start of the season, including first-lap crashes and mechanical troubles that forced him to retire from seven of the first fourteen races. Max finished behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who drove more consistently throughout the season.
Racing by Red Bull (2018-2019)
In 2018, Max Verstappen would finally begin to turn things around. Despite a rough start to the 2018 season that saw Max involved in many incidents, Max turned a corner after the Moncao GP, putting together a streak of podium finishes that included a race victory at Red Bull’s home Grand Prix in Austria. He finished the season as one of the most consistent drivers on the grid, this time beating his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Max finished the season with 249 points, while Ricciardo had 170.
Red Bull’s expectations for the 2019 season were reduced due to a new engine collaboration with Honda. Max, now with a new colleague in Pierre Gasly, was in the best shape of his life, frequently challenging for podiums. Gasly, on the other hand, struggled greatly in comparison to Max and would trail him by a significant margin every race weekend. As a result, Gasly will be replaced at Red Bull mid-season by Alex Albon.
With the Mercedes out of reach, Max finished the season as Best of the Rest in third place, with three race wins and two pole positions.
Racing by Red Bull (2020-2021)
In its second year of partnership with Honda, Red Bull was anticipated to challenge Mercedes for the title in 2020. Because of the Pandemic and Mercedes’ huge off-season advances, Mercedes was able to establish a significant lead over the rest of the competition before the season began. With Mercedes maintaining a comfortable lead and Red Bull comfortably second on the grid, Max would rack up a series of podiums throughout the season.
Alex Albon, like his previous partner Pierre Gasly, would be unable to match with Max in terms of speed and would suffer greatly in the same car. Max finished another season at Red Bull, placing third in the championship and topping off the year with a strong victory in Abu Dhabi.
Max Verstappen Achievements
- ‘2014’ – FIA European Formula Three Championship
- ‘2014’ – ‘Formula Three’ – Zandvoort Masters winner
- ‘2016’ – ‘Formula One’ – Spanish Grand Prix winner
- ‘2017’ – ‘Formula One’ – Mexican Grand Prix winner
- ‘2017’ – ‘Formula One’ – Malaysian Grand Prix winner
- ‘2018’ – ‘Formula One’ – Mexican Grand Prix winner
- ‘2018’ – ‘Formula One’ – Austrian Grand Prix winner
- ‘2019’ – ‘Formula One’ – German Grand Prix winner
- ‘2019’ – ‘Formula One’ – Austrian Grand Prix winner
- ‘2021’ – The First-Ever Dutch F1 Champion of the World
Interesting Facts
Max attempted to buy off his driving teacher
Surprisingly, the Dutch driver had no driving license when he began racing in Formula One at the age of 17. “My driving instructor was really tough, which I appreciated,”. Max explains that I was prepared; I had caps and T-shirts on hand in case someone needed to be bribed, but he refused!”. Requiring drivers to be at least 18 years old to compete.
He wears his seatbelt loosely
Max is noted for his laid-back demeanor both on and off the track. “Max remarked to me that he doesn’t run his seatbelts. tight,”. Claimed by commentator and 13-time F1 GP winner David Coulthard. I find it fascinating that he has the confidence to be free in the car. “I desired to be tethered to the car.”
He gave his father a nosebleed seat during his first F1 victory
Max recalls making history by winning his first F1 race at the age of 18 in Spain. “I started cramping with five laps to go, just from the thrill and attention,” he recalls of his closing minutes in the car. “It was insane. There was a great deal of pressure. My father’s nose began to bleed. I can’t imagine what it was like to be in the driver’s room watching the final laps.”
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