Max Verstappen wins Spanish Grand Prix at 18 years old
Max Verstappen’s first race with Red Bull Racing was a win.
Just a week after he was promoted from Red Bull Toro Rosso to team with Daniel Ricciardo at the energy drink’s No. 1 Formula 1 team, Verstappen held off Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at Barcelona on Sunday. The win makes Verstappen the youngest Formula 1 winner ever at the age of 18 years and 227 days.
Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula 1 champion, made his F1 debut when Verstappen was 3 years old.
The previous youngest winner in the series was Sebastian Vettel, who also accomplished it at Red Bull. But Vettel was 21 when he won his first race, the Italian Grand Prix. Vettel finished third on Sunday for Ferrari ahead of Ricciardo, who had to pit just before the final lap because of a punctured rear tire.
The swap of Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat was the dominant F1 topic heading into Sunday’s race. At the Russian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Kvyat ran into Vettel twice on the first lap. Vettel crashed out of the race and rumblings about Kvyat’s future with the top Red Bull team immediately surfaced.
Kvyat was promoted from Toro Rosso for the 2015 season when Vettel went to Ferrari. But his promotion to the senior team lasted just a season and four races. Red Bull said it wanted Kvyat (who had two top 10s in 2016) to get his confidence back, and there have been reports that relations between Verstappen and Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. weren’t exactly going well.
So the switch – one that many people immediately questioned – was made. And while Red Bull might have looked crazy to make it, they’re now looking crazy like foxes.
Of course, we’re obligated to mention how Verstappen was in the position to get his first win. And that’s because of the way Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton took each other out on the first lap.
Rosberg won the first four races of the season and qualified second to teammate Hamilton on Sunday. Rosberg got the lead off the start but was slower through the first three corners and Hamilton tried to take the lead back.
Rosberg blocked and as Hamilton pulled alongside Rosberg forced him into the grass. Hamilton lost control and slid into Rosberg, taking both cars out of the race as they headed towards turn 4.
Mercedes has been the dominant team over the past two-plus seasons in F1. And Rosberg and Hamilton haven’t always gotten along, either. So while Red Bull is now smiling about its driver swap that got Verstappen a victory on Sunday, that wink accompanying the smile is because it knows that Mercedes’ team dynamics are the ones that will now be thoroughly dissected.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
