Max Verstappen, who was born in Belgium to former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, represents the Netherlands at the pinnacle of motorsport since he made his race debut in 2015. The three-time Formula One World Drivers' Championship title holder is celebrating his 27th birthday on September 30, 2024. He was brought up in a family associated with motor sports, and apart from his father Jos competing in F1, his mother Sophie Kumpen has also competed in karting. His cousin brother Anthony Kumpen is also a professional racer from Belgium and a team manager.
It is widely mentioned that Max Verstappen is one of the best F1 racing drivers in history, winning several championships in his motorsport career so far. He started his junior racing career at the age of seven years old. Verstappen competed in the Mini Junior championship in 2005, and won the VAS Championship in the same category. In 2008, he won the Belgian Cadet Championship along with the Rotax Max Challenge Belgium, and the Benelux Karting Series in Mini Max class.
Max Verstappen Career
Max Verstappen entered the international racing scene during the KF3 World Cup in 2010 where he finished in second place. He went on to win the WSK Euro Series in 2011, followed by the WSK Euro Series in KF2 class the following year. Max also won the South Garda Winter Cup in the KF2 class, and finished sixth in the WSK Euro Series.
In 2013, Max Verstappen won three CIK-FIA championships in a single season at the age of 15. Those three championships include two European Championships and a World Championship. After making his F1 debut in 2015. he earned his first win in the premier class at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016, and since then, he hasn't looked back.
Ahead of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has 61 race wins, 40 pole positions, 32 fastest laps and 109 podiums in Formula One apart from three drivers' world championship titles in the last three years.
Here is the list of awards Max Verstappen won in his motorsport career so far:
- Driver ESPY Award (2023, 2024)
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (2022)
- Dutch Sportsman of the Year (2016, 2021, 2022)
- Lorenzo Bandini Trophy (2016)
- FIA Personality of the Year (2015–2017)
- FIA Rookie of the Year (2015)
- Autosport International Racing Driver Award (2021, 2022, 2023)
- Autosport Rookie of the Year (2015)
- FIA Action of the Year (2014–2016, 2019)
