Max Verstappen picks: 'These are my best wins in Formula One'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Max Verstappen is only 26 years old, but already the Dutchman has 61 Grand Prix victories to his name - only Lewis Hamilton (104) and Michael Schumacher (91) have more. So many victories, so many memories too. For The Red Bulletin - Red Bull's own magazine - the now three-time world champion listed his best wins. This is his personal top three.
1. Spain 2016
The first, the most beautiful. Barely a few days after Verstappen transferred from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing, he surprised friend and foe alike. After a breathtaking battle with Kimi Raikkonen, Verstappen won his first race in Spain in '16 on behalf of the Austrian team and his first win in a still fledgling F1 career. "That I would take the win, I didn't think about that until the very last corner. I was so focused on the job I had to do. Nothing can match the first win in F1. It was incredible because it came so unexpectedly," Verstappen explained.
2. Mexico 2018
Tired was Max Verstappen in Mexico in 2018. He had had the upper hand over teammate Daniel Ricciardo all weekend, but technical problems meant Verstappen still had to leave pole to the Australian. One setback: the problems could not be fixed before the Grand Prix. "In the night before the race I thought: 'Tomorrow I will win'. It wasn't a revenge feeling, it was the absolute will to win. What helped me: the problems surfaced at the limit, at maximum grip. That was my chance for the race. With that knowledge, I started on Sunday, hugely energised - and I won."
3. Austria 2019
His start was terrible. Immediately after the lights went out at the Red Bull Ring, Verstappen barely got out of his spot and fell back to seventh place. Only in the very last laps did he manage to work his way up to right behind race leader Charles Leclerc. With a daring manoeuvre - which took the stewards quite some time to think about - the Red Bull driver managed to overtake the Monegasque after all. "Three hours until the official result was announced, I sat in the Red Bull energy station with Helmut Marko and Dietrich Mateschitz. It took a while before the winner was determined. All in all, it was a cool race," Verstappen said.