Max Verstappen, Dutch Formula One driver
Max Emilian Verstappen (born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-Dutch racing driver and the 2021 Formula One World Champion. He competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One with Red Bull Racing. He is the son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen.
At the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, when he was aged 17 years, 166 days, he became the youngest driver to compete in Formula One. Verstappen was granted the Super Licence and raced in Formula One before being able to legally drive a road car in his native Netherlands. After spending the 2015 season with Scuderia Toro Rosso, Verstappen 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. After winning the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen became the first Dutch driver to win the Formula One World Championship, and the 34th Formula One World Drivers' Champion.As of the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen has achieved 21 victories and 13 pole positions. At the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, he scored the first Grand Slam of his career. Verstappen is due to remain at Red Bull until at least the end of the 2028 season after signing a contract extension.
1997Sep, 30
Max Verstappen
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Events on 1997
- 19Jan
Hebron
Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. - 21Jan
Newt Gingrich
The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395-28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined. - 5Feb
The Holocaust
The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families. - 2Jun
Oklahoma City bombing
In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later. - 1Jul
Tony Blair
China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule. The handover ceremony is attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.