A fully illustrated biography of Max Verstappen, from karting in the junior races at age 10 to his third time winning the world championship at the end of 2023. Max’s journey to Formula 1 stardom was not a typical one. His parents are both motorsport talents. He was born in Belgium to mum Sophie Kumpen, a champion karter, while dad Jos Verstappen was Benetton team-mate to Michael Schumacher and survived perhaps the
scariest F1 pitlane incident when his car caught fire during a refuelling stop.
As well as being good team-mates,
his dad and Michael Schumacher became great friends over the years. Max grew up going on family holidays with Schumacher and his son, fellow F1 star Mick.
Max
broke all the records for youngest driver after he made his official debut in 2015, including youngest ever driver to win an F1 race after he transferred from Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso to Red Bull in 2016.
However, his move was at the expense of Daniil Kvyat who was demoted to Toro Rosso in his place. Verstappen then started dating Kvyat’s girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, and is now stepfather to Kvyat’s son. Complicated to say the least!
Max’s career has barely spanned a decade and he’s already
gained the title of the most popular Formula One driver. With incredible skills on the track and a legion of travelling Dutch fans, he’s a force to be reckoned with and the one to watch in racing.
This fully illustrated biography
explores his youth karting through to the end of the 2023 season, interspersed with 10 key races, including:
- His debut F1 race for Toro Rosso
- His wholly unexpected win on debut for the Red Bull team in 2016, the Spanish Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took themselves out on the opening lap
- The 2021 British Grand Prix at Silverstone where he survived a 56G deceleration as he hit the barriers at Copse corner
- His titanic showdown in Abu Dhabi where he won his first controversial world championship
- His second world championship win in 2022
- His latest win and third world championship in 2023
This detailed biography with
high-quality photographs is the perfect gift for any fan of the rising F1 star Max Verstappen. It’s a standout collector’s item full of impactful info about a racing maverick. Relive Max’s formative moments, racing success and explore what the future holds for this young talent. Though things are going well right now, the volatility that led him to a physical altercation with Esteban Ocon in the 2020 Brazilian Grand Prix still appears from time to time when things don’t go his way.
And soon Red Bull want a team-mate who can really push him…
Autocourse is the definitive Formula One and motorsport annual, printed on high quality gloss art paper, 240mm x 320 hardback cover with over 400 pages of superlative images from the World's leading Grand Prix photographers and editorial from the sport's most respected journalists.
This year's championship has been dominated by Red Bull Racing, and in particular Max Verstappen who clinched the 2023 Drivers F1 World Championship as well as the team clinching the F1 Constructors title a few races earlier in the season.
Authors Tony Dodgins and Maurice Hamilton, combining 80 years of F1 expertise, examine each Grand Prix in depth. Full race reports are backed by detailed results, including lap charts and tyre strategies.
The nuances of F1’s designs and development are analysed team by team by the much-respected Mark Hughes, enhanced by Adrian Dean’s handsome F1 car illustrations.
Motor racing’s other major categories are also fully covered: WEC and Le Mans sports car successes; the closely-fought Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships, featuring emerging young talent from around all continents of the world; and the tightly fought Formula E series for electric powered single seaters.
