Back in 2021, Max Verstappen shocked the world by winning the F1 Championship on the last lap of the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. After the race, Max Verstappen went to a party with his team and sponsors and got completely wasted.
During a recent interview, Christian Horner talked about the party that took place after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. During the interview, he stated that Max Verstappen was completely wasted on the yacht where the party was held.
During that weekend, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went into the last race of the season level on points. Whoever scored higher in that race would go on to win the Championship. As the race started, Lewis Hamilton got the jump on Verstappen and took the lead in the race. The 7-time Champion went on to build over a 10-second gap.
Christian talking about how drunk max was at the party after winning his first championship 😭 pic.twitter.com/1Z2Y7O1fxf
— Sem¹ ☆☆☆ (@Semmieeef1) November 15, 2023
With 5 laps remaining in the race, Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams into the wall and triggered a safety car. Lewis Hamilton took the gamble to stay out as the team thought that the race would get over behind the safety car. Max on the other hand decided to pit for new tires as he had nothing to lose. With only 1 lap remaining, the FIA race director, Michael Masi decided to bring in the safety car without following the proper procedures.
This put Max right behind Lewis Hamilton with fresher tires and 1 lap to go. Max was able to take the lead from Hamilton and bring home the Championship. That last lap was one of the most viewed videos on the F1 channel on YouTube. This was Max Verstappen’s first Championship.
Is Max Verstappen the youngest driver to win a Championship?
Max Verstappen won his first Championship at the age of 24 years old. Although this is quite young, he is not the youngest world Champion in F1 history. The youngest F1 driver to win a race is another Red Bull driver.
Sebastian Vettel won his first Championship in 2010 when he was only 23 years and 134 days old. Before him, the youngest Champion was Lewis Hamilton who won it at 23 years and 100 days old. Max Verstappen is only the 4th youngest driver to win a Championship after Fernando Alonso.
Although Max Verstappen is not the youngest F1 Champion, he is the youngest driver to drive an F1 race. He took part in his first F1 race when he was only 17 years old. After this, the FIA brought a minimum age requirement to participate in an F1 race. So this record will remain with Max Verstappen forever. He is also the youngest driver to win a race.
Max Verstappen breaking his own records like: pic.twitter.com/oPqf99Ymfk
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) October 29, 2023
This season, Max Verstappen broke a number of records. The 2023 Formula 1 season has been a historic one for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. It was also Red Bull’s first 1-2 finish in the WDC. Max has won the most races in a row, has the highest win percentage in a season, and also has the most wins in a season.
There is no doubt that Verstappen is the driver to beat at the moment. Do you think any of the other drivers will be able to beat Max Verstappen for the Championship anytime soon? Post your answers in the comments section below.