The young Dutch star unleashed the lion, making good the slogan with which it is lavished on social networks (Unleash the lion, in English).
The Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who this Sunday proclaimed himself, after a heart attack finale, Formula One world champion, became, at the age of 24, the new king of the premier class; In which he dethroned the Englishman Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 36, record holder of almost everything, who was opting for an unprecedented eighth world title and who captured six of his seven crowns during the seven seasons leading up to this.
Mad Max, as he was soon nicknamed for his aggressive driving style, and who scored the most exciting and tightest World Championship in recent years – by passing his great rival on the last lap of the last race – was born in the Belgian town of Hasselt on September 30, 1997 and carries motor racing in the genes, since his mother, Sophie Kumpen -who sets candles every day her son races-, competed with some success in ‘karts’; and his father, Jos Verstappen, was also a Formula One driver.
Jos drove for eight seasons in the premier class, between 1994 and 2003, the first being the most fruitful, at Benetton Ford: a team in which he was a teammate of the other seven-time world champion, the German Michael Schumacher, who that year captured the first of its titles; coinciding with the campaign in which the Dutchman added his two podium finishes in F1, finishing third in Hungary and Belgium.
His son, who had already surpassed him a long time ago, culminated this Sunday, with the precocity that characterized his entire sports career, Red Bull’s new stellar project. Becoming the first driver from the Netherlands to win an F1 World Championship and the first to score it with a Honda engine since he did it for the last time in 1991, with a McLaren, the mythical Ayrton Senna; that before dying in an accident in Imola (Italy) he won three World Cups for Brazil.
The young Dutch star unleashed the lion, making good the slogan with which he lavishes on social networks (Unleash the lion, in English). It was enough for him to leave Yas Marina with the same points as Hamilton. And he ended up signing his tenth victory of the year -the twentieth in F1- winning a race that was decided on the last lap, when, after the entry of the safety car (due to the accident of the Canadian Nicholas Latifi) it was relaunched. Red Bull hit the right strategy: Max took the opportunity to change a tire -Lewis didn’t- and, with fresher tires, he passed the Briton, won the race and, with it, the World Championship
The brand new champion -who had served as a test driver the previous season- made his F1 debut in 2015 aboard a Toro Rosso, a team in which he was a teammate of the then Spanish rookie Carlos Sainz, today at Ferrari; becoming, with 17 years, the youngest in history to compete in the honors division of motorsport.
With a clear goal. “My ultimate goal is to be world champion”, declared the young Dutch star in an interview with the Efe Agency that took place in September of that year, on the outskirts of Milan, after the Grand Prix of that season, played, as is usual, in Monza.
“But I know this is not a short-term goal. I still have to prove a lot ”, a Verstappen who had been severely criticized weeks before for his fierce driving style in Monaco, told Efe, not without a certain sense; and that at that time he had not yet reached the age of majority.
After his first 23 races in F1, he was ‘promoted’ to the first team of the Austrian team, Red Bull, replacing the Russian Daniil Kvyat (now Alpine tester, the team of the Spanish Fernando Alonso, with whom not a few compare the Dutch ), with whom he exchanged flyers.
The idol of the Netherlands – who experience a sort of allonsomania, version Orange– He wasted no time in seizing the opportunity and directly won his first race with Red Bull: the Spanish Grand Prix, at the Montmeló circuit in Barcelona; where he became the youngest winner in history, a record he still holds. Like most precociousness records in F1, including signing a ‘Grand Slam’ – winning from pole, setting the fastest lap and leading the test from start to finish – something he achieved this year, with 23, in Austria.
But nevertheless, Mad Max He is not the youngest to win a World Cup. Third in the 2019 and 2020 championships, last year, with his status as the leader of the energy drink team totally undisputed, he lost the last chance to do so. That honor continues to be held by the German Sebastian Vettel, today at Aston Martin, after having passed through Ferrari; who won the first of his four straight titles with Red Bull (2010) at age 23.
2017 and 2018 closed them with two victories; and in 2019 he raised his number of triumphs to three in the same course; ratio that was reduced back to two last year.
This season, in which he shared garages with Mexican Sergio Pérez (retired at the end of the race this Sunday), was the one of his final emergence. With Abu Dhabi, he raised this year’s triumphs to ten. Exactly half of those he has counted since racing in F1.
Tonight, “Maximilian I of the Netherlands” will go to bed, for the first time, as world champion of the queen category. Not without having put maximum emotion to the resolution of the title. Hamilton had won the last two races, in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Qatar; and, eight points behind the leader of Red Bull, he started last Sunday in Jeddah from a ‘pole’ that he had given him, with an unnecessary error, when he was flying, beating all the sets, in his last attempt.
Arabia, where he had to settle for second place, behind Hamilton – who signed the fastest lap and thus tied the World Cup – marked the umpteenth disagreement between the two champions.
They had crashed in Silverstone -where the Englishman won after taking him off the track and sending him to the hospital, for which he received a ten-second sanction, the same one that Max was executed in Jeddah for braking too hard when he had to give up position- and in Monza , where the Dutchman was blamed for the incident and both were out of the race. And in Sao Paulo sparks had also been sparked by the exacerbated defense of his position by the new hero of the Netherlands before being overtaken by the English star.
Mad Max, subjected to all kinds of conjecture before the last test, demonstrated not only enormous talent, but great mental strength. Hamilton was second and Mercedes had to settle for the constructors’ title, the eighth in a row. Formula One already has a new king. (D)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
