Max Verstappen becomes F1 World Champion for the first time

Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton to F1 world title on last lap in Abu Dhabi

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Verstappen overtakes Hamilton in epic last lap to win Formula 1 World Championship

Following a Safety Car period at the Yas Marina Circuit, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen overtakes Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the 2021 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to take the race victory and win the 2021 drivers’ world championship.

it’s a drivers’ championship for Honda!

A dream come true for @Max33Verstappen as he crosses the line in Abu Dhabi ?

And becomes F1 World Champion for the first time! ? ?#AbuDhabiGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/DIF51TL6Sk
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021

who is Max Verstappen ?

Max Emilian Verstappen is a Belgian-Dutch racing driver currently competing in Formula One, under the Dutch flag, with Red Bull Racing.

(Dutch pronunciation: ˈmɑks eːˈmilijɑɱ vɛrˈstɑpə(n); born 30 September 1997)

At the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, when he was aged 17 years, 166 days, he became the youngest driver to compete in Formula One.

After spending the 2015 season with Scuderia Toro Rosso, he started his 2016 campaign with the Italian team before being promoted to parent team Red Bull Racing after four races as a replacement for Daniil Kvyat. At the age of 18, he won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his debut for Red Bull Racing, becoming the youngest-ever driver and the first Dutch driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

In the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he became the first Dutch driver to win the Formula One World Championship.

As of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he has achieved 19 more victories, including the first for a Honda-powered driver since 2006. He finished the 2019 and 2020 championships in third place. Verstappen is due to remain at Red Bull until the end of the 2023 season after signing a contract extension.

He is the son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen.

Max Verstappen wiki/bio

He’s Max by name, and max by nature.

Arriving as Formula 1’s youngest ever competitor at just 17 years old, Verstappen pushed his car, his rivals and the sport’s record books to the limit. The baby-faced Dutchman with the heart of a lion took the Toro Rosso – and then the Red Bull – by the horns with his instinctive racing style.

F1’s youngest points scorer soon became its youngest race winner – at the age of 18 years and 228 days – with an opportunistic but controlled drive on debut for Red Bull in Barcelona 2016. A true wheel-to-wheel racer, another stunning drive in Brazil from the back of the pack to the podium on a treacherous wet track kept the plaudits coming.

Verstappen’s no-holds-barred attitude and hard defending have sometimes landed him in hot water with his peers and paymasters. But the mistakes that initially marred his potential have given way to maturity, while the bravado and energy that make him a blockbuster talent have remained – and the victories have kept on coming.

The son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen and super-quick karting Mum Sophie Kumpen, racing runs through his genes. Despite moving out of Dad’s house to live in Monaco, Verstappen remains close to his family, and though he’s not afraid to speak his mind, he can still be surprisingly shy.

The expectations for the next generation’s leading light are sky high – but with Verstappen there’s a feeling that the sky’s the limit.