How Max Verstappen Became F1's Most Dominant Force

Let's get one thing straight: Formula 1 has had plenty of great drivers. It's had far fewer who made the rest of the grid look like they'd turned up to the wrong event. Max Verstappen's F1 career has become the second kind. In recent seasons, the race for first place has frequently been decided by qualifying performance, with Verstappen and Red Bull often securing a significant advantage. This is the story of how a teenager turned into one of the most dominant forces the sport has seen in a generation, and why the numbers back up the considerable hype.

Who is Max Verstappen? Defining F1's superstar

Max Verstappen is a Dutch racing driver, born December 1, 1997, which makes him 26 years old at the time of writing. He races for Red Bull Racing, wears car number 1 (as champions get to), and has spent his entire adult life being among the fastest drivers in Formula 1. (His mother is Belgian, but he races under the Dutch flag.)

He's the son of Jos Verstappen, a former F1 driver himself, which means Max grew up immersed in racing. He did not have a traditional rookie phase in F1, arriving competitive from his debut and establishing himself as a leading driver relatively quickly.

From karting kid to F1's youngest driver driver

In 2015, Verstappen reportedly became Formula 1's youngest driver ever, joining Toro Rosso at age 17. Let that sit for a second — 17. Most of us were still failing our driving tests at that age. Max was out there overtaking grown professionals on live television.

It wasn't a gimmick signing either. From his first season he was quick, aggressive, and clearly building toward something bigger. Toro Rosso, Red Bull's junior team, has long been a pipeline for future stars, but rarely has the pipeline moved someone through this fast.

The 2016 promotion that changed everything

According to reports, Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull Racing mid-season in 2016 following a driver shake-up. He didn't ease into the senior seat — he won his very first race for the team, at the Spanish Grand Prix, becoming the youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history at the time.

That single result told the paddock everything it needed to know. This wasn't a driver who'd grow into a title contender eventually. He already was one. Red Bull just had to build the car to match him — and eventually, they did exactly that.

Since that 2016 move, Verstappen has reportedly accumulated over 60 race wins during his Red Bull tenure. For context, plenty of respected F1 careers end with a fraction of that total. Verstappen racked it up while still young enough to rent a car in most countries without a surcharge.

2021: the title that split the fanbase in two

Verstappen reportedly won his first F1 World Championship in 2021, in a controversial final-lap finish against Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. If you were anywhere near social media that weekend, you already know this wasn't a quiet coronation — it was one of the most argued-about finishes in the sport's history.

The title fight had gone the full distance, literally down to the final lap of the final race. Whichever way you land on the controversy, one fact isn't up for debate: Verstappen was fighting Hamilton, a seven-time champion at the peak of Mercedes' era of dominance, and came out on top. That's not a fluke. That's a statement.

2022: back-to-back, and not close

If 2021 was a fistfight, 2022 was a coronation. Verstappen reportedly secured his second consecutive championship with approximately 15 races still remaining in the season. Translation: he'd mathematically won the title with over half the calendar still to run.

Red Bull's car had clearly taken a step forward under the new regulations, and Verstappen made the most of every inch of it. Where 2021 needed a photo finish, 2022 barely needed a finish line.

2023: the most dominant season in F1 history

Then came 2023, and F1 fans watching at home basically needed a new word for "dominant." Verstappen reportedly won approximately 19 of 22 races that season — an 86% win rate that stands as one of the most staggering statistical seasons in the sport's history.

To put that in perspective: most championship-winning seasons see a driver win eight, maybe ten races out of twenty-odd. Verstappen won nearly nine out of every ten races he entered. The championship battle wasn't so much a battle as a formality with extra steps.

He also reportedly maintained 25+ podium finishes across his championship years, meaning even on the rare weekend he didn't win, he was still standing on the box collecting silverware. It's the racing equivalent of turning up late to the pub quiz and still winning the free round.

2024-2025: cracks in the armour?

Every dominant era eventually meets some resistance, and Verstappen's reportedly hit turbulence heading into 2024 and 2025. He continued winning multiple consecutive races early in the 2024 season, extending his stranglehold on the sport — but reports suggest he's since faced increased competition following regulatory changes and shifts in the driver market.

Nothing burns forever at the same intensity, not even a Red Bull. Rivals have closed the gap, regulations have shifted the goalposts, and other teams have finally started building cars that don't look like they're racing in a different category entirely. Whether this is a speed bump or the start of a genuine title fight again remains to be seen.

Verstappen by the numbers

Sometimes the stats tell the story better than the adjectives ever could. Here's the scoreboard so far:

• Reportedly 60+ career race wins since his Red Bull promotion in 2016
• Three World Championships — 2021, 2022, and 2023
• Approximately 15 career pole positions, according to reports
• An 86% win rate in 2023 (19 wins from 22 races)
• 25+ podium finishes in his championship-winning years
• Reportedly averaged 25+ points per race during his peak dominance years
• Clinched the 2022 title with roughly 15 races still to spare

Put together, that's not just a good few seasons. That's a driver operating in a different statistical universe from most of his competition.

What actually makes him different behind the wheel

This is the bit most highlight reels skip, because "he's just really good at car control" doesn't make for a punchy headline. But it's true. Verstappen's defining trait, according to years of paddock commentary, is his willingness to push a car to its absolute limit — and occasionally past it — lap after lap, without the small errors that usually creep in under pressure.

Where a lot of elite drivers manage a handful of "purple sector" laps a race, Verstappen strings together a whole stint of them, in traffic, in the rain, with a car twitching under braking. It's the difference between a band that nails the single and a band that nails the entire album, live, every night, on tour.

His race craft under pressure — particularly in wheel-to-wheel battles — has become something rivals study rather than simply react to. That's usually the sign a driver's crossed over from "very good" to "generational."

My honest take: is he the greatest ever?

Here's my one hot take, and I'll back it with a number: Verstappen's 2023 season (19 wins from 22 races, an 86% win rate) is statistically the most dominant single season in F1 history, full stop. Not "one of." The most.

Compare that to any other legendary dominant season you want to name — even the great Mercedes and Ferrari eras of the past — and the win percentage simply isn't in the same neighbourhood. That's the number that should end most pub arguments before they start.

Where I'll hedge is on the "greatest of all time" question, because that requires comparing eras, cars, and rule sets that aren't remotely equivalent. A 2023 Red Bull was a different beast to a 1990s Williams or a 2014 Mercedes. Reckon it's fairer to say this: Verstappen has produced the single most dominant season F1 has ever recorded, but "greatest ever" needs him to sustain this across a longer career arc first — and 2024-2025's tighter competition will be the real test of that.

If you're only judging peak dominance, he's already there. If you're judging longevity against Hamilton's seven titles or Schumacher's era-defining stretch, the jury's still deliberating — and reportedly, they've ordered another round of coffee.

So there it is — a kid from Hasselt who skipped the "promising rookie" phase entirely and went straight to "problem for everyone else." Three titles, 60-odd wins, and a 2023 season so lopsided it should come with its own asterisk and a apology note to the rest of the grid. Whether the next few seasons add "greatest of all time" to the resume or just "most dominant peak we've ever seen," one thing's certain: nobody's catching him by standing still. Buckle up — this one's still racing.