Record-breaking teenager Max Verstappen handled his triumphant arrival as a global sports star with the same cool aplomb he showed behind the wheel on Sunday.
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Max Verstappen sits just behind that pack in sixth, combining the 25 points he earned for winning in Spain with the 13 he gathered together in the first four grands prix with Toro Rosso. But this is all a bit unbelievable for me. Not to be on the podium – that sucks for me.
Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix. “In Formula One! And that is scary”.
Eighteen-year-old Verstappen held off Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for victory, with Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo third after running a three-stop strategy. “And that, for me, is pretty scary”.
Verstappen’s maiden win on his Red Bull debut was the first in the sport by a Dutchman and the first by the team without Vettel involved in one of their cars.
“The mechanics were telling me that even the way he gets in the auto is similar, the same side and the way he pulls his knee up to get in the chassis”. It also meant he was no longer free to leave Red Bull and join a rival team.
“I think with five laps to go I thought “okay, now we have to win this race” because I saw Kimi struggling with his tyres as well and from them on it was, “okay, make no mistakes, get a good exit out of the last corner and that should give you the win”, he said. It’s nice isn’t it?
That rule would have barred him from competing in 2015 had it been in force at the time. “To win straight away in my first race with Red Bull is incredible”.
“It’s very special to win your first race and today is his day”. No wonder his father Jos was moved to tears.
He became the youngest race victor, at 18 years and 228 days, replacing four-time champion Sebastian Vettel who had also taken that record as a Red Bull driver.
Verstappen was also the youngest driver to stand on the podium and the first Dutch race victor since the championship started in 1950.
Former champion Damon Hill said: “It’s not just a great motor-racing story”.
“This must rate highly in terms of biggest stories in the world of sport”.
“Right now it’s the reverse situation of when he arrived (at Red Bull) and (Sebastian) Vettel was the driver, except Vettel had four world championships and he doesn’t”.
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On Sunday, he met his successor – and the future – in the shape of a kid declared “too young” when he arrived and only passed his road auto driving test on his 18th birthday last September.
