Max Verstappen shares the advice about reaching Formula 1 that ‘not many people listen’ to

Follow us on Google Discover

There are very few people in Formula 1 who are better placed to advise young drivers about their careers than Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen remains the record holder for the youngest driver ever to race in Formula 1.

It’s a Verstappen record that’s unlikely to be broken, with drivers now needing special permission from the FIA to obtain a superlicense before their 18th birthday.

David Coulthard thinks Max Verstappen is a better F1 champion than Lewis Hamilton – do you agree?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Helmut Marko and Red Bull took their chance on Verstappen, and it’s paid off. While the Dutchman had the guidance of his father Jos, who also raced in F1, he also proved he had the talent to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.

The 28-year-old didn’t have the most linear journey into F1, skipping Formula 2 altogether and finishing third in the 2014 Formula 3 European Championship to Esteban Ocon before being promoted into a Toro Rosso seat.

However, Verstappen is prolific in other racing series and lives and breathes motorsport, and so when he gives out advice to young drivers on how to replicate his success, they need to listen.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Max Verstappen tells young drivers not to rush into racing cars too quickly to reach Formula 1

Verstappen was interviewed on the Pelas Pistas Podcast towards the end of the 2025 F1 season and was asked about how to reach the top echelons of motorsport.

He said: “I always advise everyone before they go to cars, at least do your final year in go-karting and shifter because you learn how to use the gears in the dry, in the wet and the start on lap one.

“You learn how to use the gear to go one down or whatever. When you’re defending, attacking, it’s very different.

“The brake bias, you can already adjust it. Not many people listen, but I do think it’s very, for me, at least, it was super helpful because then when you go into cars, you know exactly how to use the gears or play with the gears because, when you’re high RPM, low RPM, the go-kart reacts differently.

“It’s the same in the car, right? High RPM, low RPM, you get a whole different balance of the car.

“And that’s why I think doing at least one year or at least a few races to understand what’s going on, because most of the kids go to cars and they’re like spamming the gears, not really understanding how to use it, also for balance or rotation stuff like that.

“I think if you do one year in shifters, you can skip F4 because I think it’s a bad car, and you go to FRECA.

“That’s already fast enough to have a good understanding of a race car because for me, an F4 is too basic a race car.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

How Formula 1’s newest driver, Arvid Lindblad racing career compares to Max Verstappen’s

The latest example we can use to see whether Verstappen’s preferred method of reaching F1 is Racing Bulls’ new recruit, Arvid Lindblad.

Lindblad was also granted a superlicense before his 18th birthday as Red Bull prepared the British teenager for an early Formula 1 promotion, with both Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson struggling.

That never transpired, although Lindblad impressed Red Bull during his FP1 appearances at Silverstone and in Mexico City.

Unlike Verstappen’s rapid rise through car racing after an extensive karting career, Lindblad has been competing in single-seater series for years.

Lindblad finished in the top three of every karting competition he took part in during 2021, making the switch to Italian F4 the following year.

His only championship series win since making the switch to cars came at the Formula Regional Oceania Championship last year.

That earned him the required superlicense points to be eligible for F1, and he only spent one year at the Formula 4 level, which Verstappen recommends against.