Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen – Biography, Career and Results

Quick facts

Who is Max Verstappen?

There is one year in Max Verstappen's racing history that is hard to pass over without comment: 2013. That winter, before anyone was seriously thinking of him in a single-seater, he collected two karting European Championship titles and a world championship title in a single season – while also standing on the podium in a third category. This kind of density has defined his career ever since: barely more than a year after his first single-seater start he was already a Formula 1 driver, and barely two years later a race winner.

Motorsport was no strange environment for him because of his parents: his father, Jos Verstappen, raced in the F1 field of the 1990s and 2000s, while his mother, Sophie Kumpen, was herself an accomplished karting racer. This background did not substitute for his own performance, but it does explain why he received serious professional guidance for his career extremely early on.

GPStats' own database documents Verstappen's Formula 1 results in detail – this profile instead focuses on what lies behind them: the karting years, the unusually short junior single-seater phase, and how he has, in recent years, ventured into genuine race car categories alongside F1.

The early years

Verstappen first sat in a racing kart at the age of seven, in 2005, in the Mini category of the Belgian Championship – a title he won right away, then repeated in 2006. In the following years he racked up championship titles in succession in the Rotax Max Challenge and the Benelux Karting Series, winning three in a single season in 2008 alone.

In 2010, at the age of twelve, he made the international step: he won the WSK Euro Series and the WSK World Series, and finished second in the CIK-FIA World Cup. From this point on he regularly measured himself not in regional, but in international fields.

The peak of his karting career: the 2013 season

2013 is the season that made the international motorsport world take notice of him. At fifteen, within a single year, he won three CIK-FIA championship titles: he became European champion in both the KZ (geared) and KF (automatic) categories, then in September, at the world championship held in Varennes, France, he also won the world title in KZ – making him the youngest-ever geared karting world champion. In the KF world championship, meanwhile, he finished third. In the world championship final he took the lead after just four laps and won by more than three seconds; the field also included Charles Leclerc, who finished second in the KZ world championship. His father, Jos Verstappen, personally oversaw the technical setup of his kart during these years.

Junior single-seater career

Verstappen's single-seater career was unusually short – it was effectively limited to a single season before he signed for Formula 1.

He made his single-seater debut in January and February 2014 in the non-championship Florida Winter Series, driving for Van Amersfoort Racing. He won four races, including one at Palm Beach International Raceway from pole position, and one at Homestead–Miami Speedway, where he beat Nicholas Latifi by just 0.004 seconds.

This run of results catapulted him straight into the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, where – again with Van Amersfoort Racing – he won ten races in a single season and finished the championship in third place (the title went to Esteban Ocon). At sixteen or seventeen, this made him the youngest-ever race winner and pole-sitter in F3 history.

The road to Formula 1

The 2014 F3 season alone was striking enough to catch the interest of several F1 teams – Mercedes' junior programme also approached him. The breakthrough, however, came from a test day: after Verstappen tried out a Formula Renault 3.5 (World Series Formula V8 3.5) race car, Red Bull signed him to the Red Bull Junior Team in August 2014. Just a few days later it was announced that he would be a Scuderia Toro Rosso driver for the 2015 season – meaning the young Dutchman effectively skipped GP3, the predecessor series of Formula 2, and every other intermediate step, jumping straight from F3 into Formula 1.

Formula 1 career

Verstappen made his debut in 2015 at the Australian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso, becoming the youngest-ever starter in the sport's history at the time, and won the Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season. In May 2016, after just four races with Toro Rosso, he was promoted to Red Bull Racing – and won his first race right at his debut event for the team, the Spanish Grand Prix, making him at the time the youngest-ever race winner in history.

Over the following seasons, from 2017 to 2020, he was continuously in contention for wins, and from 2021 onwards he won four consecutive World Championship titles (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) with Red Bull Racing. In August 2026 – after the possibility of a team change had also come up – he extended his contract with Red Bull Racing until 2030, signalling that he will remain with the team at this stage of his career too. You can find the detailed season-by-season F1 statistics (races, wins, pole positions, points) in GPStats Racing's own Formula 1 database.

Racing outside Formula 1

In recent years Verstappen has not raced only in Formula 1. With his own sim racing team, Team Redline, he regularly competes in the most prestigious events of virtual motorsport, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual series.

In September 2025 he took the step towards genuine GT3 racing: he made his debut at the ninth round of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (the 57th ADAC Barbarossapreis) in an Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, alongside Chris Lulham (the team also included Dennis Fetzer, Jann Mardenborough and Fabio Scherer). He won his debut race outright, 24.496 seconds ahead of the Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3, and also earned Driver of the Day honours.

This win opened the door to his long-cherished goal, the Nürburgring 24 Hours. After also lining up at another NLS round (NLS2) in March 2026 as preparation, he made his debut at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on 17 May 2026 in a Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, alongside teammates Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Lucas Auer. Having led the race for a long time, a bearing issue broke the drivetrain, requiring a three-hour garage repair – Verstappen's car eventually finished only 38th, while victory went to the sister car (Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller, Maxime Martin), Mercedes' first Nordschleife win since 2016.

Notable results outside Formula 1

Career timeline

• 2005 – start of karting career, at age seven, in the Mini category of the Belgian Championship
• 2010 – international karting debut, WSK Euro Series and WSK World Series championship title
• 2013 – KZ world championship title, plus KZ and KF European championship titles in a single season
• January–February 2014 – single-seater debut in the Florida Winter Series
• 2014 – FIA Formula 3 European Championship, 3rd place, 10 race wins
• August 2014 – joins the Red Bull Junior Team
• 2015 – Formula 1 debut with Scuderia Toro Rosso, as the youngest-ever starter
• May 2016 – promoted to Red Bull Racing, race win on his debut event (Spanish Grand Prix)
• 2021–2024 – four consecutive World Championship titles with Red Bull Racing
• September 2025 – GT3 debut and win at the Nürburgring Nordschleife (NLS9)
• May 2026 – real Nürburgring 24 Hours debut
• August 2026 – contract extension with Red Bull Racing until 2030

Facts about Max Verstappen's career

• In 2013 he won three CIK-FIA championship titles in a single season – an achievement unmatched in the more than sixty-year history of karting.
• At fifteen he became the youngest-ever geared (KZ) karting world champion.
• His single-seater career lasted barely a single season before Formula 1: he never raced in Formula Renault, GP3 or Formula 2.
• He made his Formula 1 debut at 17 years and 166 days old, making him the youngest-ever driver to start a Formula 1 world championship race.
• With his win at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, on his debut race for Red Bull Racing, he became the youngest-ever F1 race winner at the time.
• With his own sim racing team, Team Redline, he is a regular participant in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• In 2025, at the age of 27, he made his debut in real GT3 racing and won straight away – then in 2026 he also lined up at the long-awaited Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Frequently asked questions about Max Verstappen's career

When did Max Verstappen start racing?

At age seven, in 2005, in karting, in the Mini category of the Belgian Championship.

What championship did Verstappen win before Formula 1?

In 2013, within a single season, he won the KZ world championship title as well as the KZ and KF European championship titles in karting, then in 2014 finished third in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with ten race wins.

Did Verstappen race in Formula Renault or GP3?

Not in a championship: he went straight from Formula 3 into Formula 1. A test day in a Formula Renault 3.5 (World Series Formula V8 3.5) helped catch Red Bull's attention.

How did Verstappen make it to Formula 1?

He became a Red Bull Junior Team driver in August 2014 – despite Mercedes' interest – and within days it was announced he would make his F1 debut with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015.

Has Verstappen raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours?

He has not yet taken part in the real Le Mans 24 Hours, but he regularly competes in its virtual equivalent, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, with his own Team Redline sim racing team.

Did Verstappen race at the Nürburgring 24 Hours?

Yes, he made his debut at the Nürburgring in May 2026 in a Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, after winning his GT3 debut race (NLS9) outright in September 2025 in an Emil Frey Racing Ferrari.

How long is Verstappen contracted to Red Bull?

He extended his contract with the team in August 2026 until 2030, after the possibility of a team change had previously come up.

Sources

• FIA – Verstappen wins KZ World Championship at 15
• FIA – 2013 KZ European Championship
• FIA – Verstappen wins, Ocon is the FIA Formula 3 European Champion
• Verstappen.com – Max collects four trophies at the CIK-FIA prize gala in Milan
• Verstappen.com – About Max
• Formula1.com – Max Verstappen (Drivers' Hall of Fame)
• Formula1.com – Verstappen to make Nürburgring 24 Hours debut
• Motorsport.com – Max Verstappen wins on NLS GT3 debut at the Nordschleife
• ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie – Max Verstappen and Chris Lulham make history at NLS9
• Crash.net – Nürburgring 24 Hours: Mercedes wins dramatic race, Max Verstappen finishes after technical issue
• Motorsport Week – Max Verstappen commits to Red Bull with new F1 deal
• Wikipedia – 2014 Florida Winter Series (supplementary source, for cross-reference)