Just two years ago, Max Verstappen was embroiled in a monumental battle with Lewis Hamilton for the 2021 drivers’ championship. Now, just over 700 days later, he is a three-times world champion.
Verstappen arrived into Formula 1 with a degree of hype and expectation arguably no driver has ever had before. The youngest F1 driver in history, Verstappen had to learn so much as a driver under the ever present watch of the F1 paddock and millions of fans watching around the world.
Despite this, over his record-breaking career to date, Verstappen has produced some incredibly memorable performances where even if he was to retire at the end of this season, he would already have a catalogue of famous drivers few could ever hope to amass.
But which performances from Verstappen’s career so far stand out most to the writers of RaceFans?
Imola 2014: Pass masterclass
What makes Verstappen such a thrilling talent to watch is his affinity for wheel-to-wheel racecraft, his dogged and indefatigable pursuit of the rival ahead of him. It’s reminiscent of watching the likes of Nigel Mansell or Juan Pablo Montoya.
Sadly, modern Formula 1 with its infernal Drag Reduction System and designed-to-degrade tyres is often a poor showcase for such skills. Older footage of Verstappen in action captures him at his hustling, improvisational best.
There are countless examples but one which stood out as especially memorable at the time was his climb from 13th to 2nd at Imola in 2014. Verstappen was racing in the European Formula 3 championship and already knew he would be driving for Red Bull’s junior F1 team the following year. But he was hunting championship rival Esteban Ocon as if his career depended on it.
As a result his driving in the weekend’s opening race verged on desperate at times, and left the threat of a one-race ban hanging over his head. Regardless, Verstappen dialled it up to 11 again in the second race and served up a breath-taking display of sheer overtaking prowess.
On the first lap he dispensed with Nick Cassidy and Lucas Auer, and gained another spot from Roy Nissany who ran wide at Piratella. Gaining superb traction from Rivazza 2, Verstappen picked off Jake Dennis on lap three and two tours later lunged down the inside of an unsuspecting Will Buller at Tamburello.
A Safety Car period delayed his progress, but when it went in he immediately pounced on Nicholas Latifi. Ocon attempted to cover the inside line at Tamburello but the fully-committed Verstappen swept around the points leader. When Antonio Fuoco peeled off into the pits to have a tyre changed, Verstappen was into the podium positions.
Trading fastest laps with race-long leader Tom Blomqvist, who was too far gone to catch by this stage, Verstappen closed on the other Carlin driver in second place. Antonio Giovinazzi pushed the rules to the limit as the final lap began, covering the inside at Tamburello then crowding Verstappen on the outside. As they sprinted to the Rivazzas, Giovinazzi defended hard again, but spoiled his line through the final corner.
Verstappen sniffed the opportunity, slipstreamed his rival to the finishing line and drew alongside. The future three-times Formula 1 world champion capped his masterpiece of a drive by nicking second place from a stunned Giovinazzi by less than two-hundredths of a second.
Keith Collantine
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Catalunya 2016: Instant speed
Verstappen’s stand-out performances have come thick and fast throughout his career, so much so we’re starting to become complacent and take his excellence for granted. For me, it was how Verstappen handled the pressure of his sudden promotion to Red Bull and navigated his first qualifying session for the team which ranks as his most impressive performance.
On his debut weekend at Red Bull thanks to a sudden driver switch from Toro Rosso, Verstappen had his first taste of a competitive car alongside Daniel Ricciardo, who was already a multiple F1 race winner.
But Verstappen was the faster Red Bull driver for most of the qualifying session, outpacing his much more experienced team mate. The young 18-year-old hadn’t driven the Red Bull before first practice a day earlier, having been dropped in to replace Daniil Kvyat. Ricciardo managed to beat him by four tenths of a second in the end, but Verstappen lined up immediately behind him in fourth on the grid, behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
That qualifying performance, with next to no prior car knowledge and early in his second season in F1, convinced Red Bull it had an absolute megastar on its hands. Red Bull knew he was seriously quick but they were blown away by his execution in a car that was based on other drivers’ preferences.
It’s easy to forget how much scepticism greeted Verstappen’s arrival in F1 as a 17-year-old and rapid promotion to the senior Red Bull team. When eventually went on to win the race, the remaining doubters were silenced, Red Bull never looked back.
Claire Cottingham
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Interlagos 2016: Wet weather mastery
For modern examples of amazing wet-weather drives, Verstappen’s 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix comeback stands out.
He had some amazing moments prior to the pit stop that dropped him to 14th, and in the 16 laps after he recovered to third place. Verstappen’s pace and car control were astonishing, his ideal fastest lap eight tenths of a second faster than anyone else’s as he explored different lines in search for grip.
The wet conditions meant a Safety Car start, with no green flags until lap eight. Immediately Verstappen attacked, making a huge – and perfectly executed – lunge on Kimi Raikkonen for third.
The race was later red-flagged as the conditions worsened. When green flag action returned Verstappen swept around Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes at turn three, and quickly left the eventual champion behind.
Verstappen pulled away so much that when he almost crashed out, locking the brakes after sliding onto the pit straight and then releasing them just in time to flick his car away from the wall, he didn’t lose position.
Pitting for intermediate tyres dropped him to fifth, and during another Safety Car period he returned to full wet weather tyres. What he then did from 14th was stunning. There were turn one passes on the inside and outside, a repeat of his turn three sweeper, and two successful lunges elsewhere.
Felipe Nasr almost pushed him off but Verstappen was unintimidated, sweeping by with one wheel on the grass. Verstappen later passed Sebastian Vettel, leaving no room for one of F1’s biggest names. He finally regained his place on the podium after spending several corners in a side-by-side scrap with future team mate Sergio Perez.
Ida Wood
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Red Bull Ring 2019: Polished performer
By 2019 Ricciardo had seen the writing on the wall and left Red Bull. It therefore fell to Verstappen to lead the team to the first victory of its new and ultimately highly successful partnership with power unit supplier Honda.
It was the year Verstappen evolved from being just a raw, developing talent to and became a mature driver. To me, what stands out most from this pivotal season is Verstappen’s victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
He started second, but dropped to seventh after falling into anti-stall off the line. However, Verstappen delivered a recovery drive where great patience helped him continue a brilliantly consistent start to the season.
On lap seven he overtook Lando Norris, and it only took two more tours for him to despatch Raikkonen. Hamilton, struggling with front wing damage, fell behind the Red Bull driver during their pit stops.
Verstappen was fourth at the halfway stage, but his next opportunity did not come until lap 50. He overtook Vettel at turn four, and within half-a-dozen laps had taken Valtteri Bottas as well. That left Charles Leclerc, Verstappen’s rival from his karting days, as the only obstacle between him and victory.
With four laps left, Verstappen made his first attack. Leclerc repelled that one, but Verstappen retaliated the next time around, taking the lead at turn three. It was a muscular move, Verstappen edging Leclerc off the track, but to Ferrari’s dismay the stewards declared it legal.
Verstappen was only 21 at the time, and had copped some flak for his aggressive moves before. This race showed he was getting a feel for where the limit was, a trait which served him well in the coming fight with Hamilton which would lead to his first world championship two years later.
Ed Hardy
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Spa-Francorchamps 2022: Domination
Whether they were delighted or disgusted by how Verstappen acquired the number one on his car, Verstappen spent 2022 proving to everyone why he was worthy of it.
Winning eight of the first 13 races, Verstappen arrived at one of his favourite venues, Spa-Francorchamps, knowing hard times were ahead. Red Bull planned to take his fourth power unit at the power circuit, dooming him to a ‘back of the grid’ penalty. No matter, however, as he promptly rocked up to the circuit on Saturday and set the fastest time in qualifying by six tenths of a second.
With almost half the grid also taking power unit penalties, ‘back of the grid’ ultimately translated into 14th for Sunday’s race. Before he’d even hit the brake pedal for the first time in the race, Verstappen had already gained two places. Not content, he dived by Kevin Magnussen into La Source and later nailed Lance Stroll into the final hairpin to gain eighth by the end of the opening lap.
After a Safety Car period, he scythed his way through the field with ease. Alexander Albon, Ricciardo, Vettel, Fernando Alonso and George Russell all fell to him over the next four laps, giving him third as early as lap eight – which was only the fifth green flag lap.
Soon after, he dispatched his team mate Perez before setting his sights on catching leader Carlos Sainz Jnr, who’d inherited pole from Verstappen. After his first pit stop, he breezed by Sainz and into the lead on lap 18 – his journey from 14th on the grid to the head of the field lasting just 36 minutes and just under 130 kilometres.
From that point, he was gone. Just 26 laps later, Verstappen was taking the chequered flag almost 18 seconds ahead of Perez and nearly half a minute clear of the nearest non-Red Bull. It had been a masterful display by a soon-to-be two-times champion from 14th on the grid and the signature win from the 2022 season.
Will Wood
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Over to you
Which of Verstappen’s drives do you consider his best? Have your say in the comments.
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