The 16-year-old is the son of Jos Verstappen, 42, who raced in 106 grands prix
from 1994 to 2003, including as team-mate to Michael Schumacher at Benetton
when the German won the World Championship.
Spain’s Jaime Alguersuari holds the record for the youngest driver in F1,
making his debut for Toro Rosso when he was 19 years and 125 days in 2009.
While he lost his seat just two years later, Verstappen will smash the
current record by nearly two years when he races in the sport for the first
time.
The Dutchman has contested less than 40 races in single seaters, although that
is not totally unheard of, with current Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen having
completed just 23 when he began in F1.
However, many of the sport’s elder statesmen are likely to be nervous at
Verstappen making his debut so young, particularly given repeated criticism
of some young drivers who have shown themselves to be reckless in their race
craft.
Tony Jardine, the former McLaren assistant team manager, who also worked at
Brabham and Lotus, feels that the Dutchman will face a frosty reception from
some of his competitors. “He looks like a wonder kid, but he is going to be
the youngest ever on a grand prix grid,” Jardine said. “What the senior
drivers will think about it – don’t ask them, because they won’t like it.”
Britain’s John Watson, a five-time winner and championship runner-up in 1982,
agreed that it would be a baptism of fire for Verstappen, especially given
the cut-throat manner in which Red Bull dispose of young drivers they deem
surplus to requirements.
Watson said: “The concern some of the more established drivers might have is
are we bringing in drivers who are not emotionally or mentally mature to
deal with difficult judgments, which they’ve got to make in milliseconds and
it’s got to be the right judgment.
“He’s got a remarkable degree of self-confidence and assurance. I don’t think
the driving bit will be an issue whatsoever, but it might be more difficult
in dealing with the enormously high expectation Red
Bull place in their young drivers, which can be a huge pressure. He
will have to grow up really quickly.”
In Verstappen’s favour is the current generation of Formula One cars, which do
not demand the same physical strength required when Jenson Button and Lewis
Hamilton first entered the sport in the 2000s.
Daniil Kyvat, a remarkably skinny figure who will partner Verstappen next
year, has also enjoyed an incredible start to his F1 career in 2014 despite
concerns that the 19-year-old was too young.
Like Kvyat, Verstappen will be following in the footsteps of the four-time
champion Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, the surprise package of this
year, in moving through Red Bull’s junior programme.
Franz Tost, the Toro Rosso team principal who is respected as a hard
taskmaster for young drivers, said that Verstappen had the “mental strength”
to prosper in Formula One. “We consider Max to be one of the most skilled
young drivers of the new generation,” he said.
Vergne, who becomes the latest in a string of drivers to fall out of favour
with Red Bull, just months after being in contention for a seat at the
senior team, said he still had “a lot to show in F1”.