When teenager Max Verstappen dominated Macau field in ‘unheard of’ comeback drive 10 years ago

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The Macau Grand Prix is one of the premier events on the junior single-seater calendar, with drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher all winning the race.

This year it’s the 71st running of the legendary street circuit event and it also marks 10 years since Max Verstappen put in a drive that announced him on the world stage ahead of its F1 debut.

The Dutchman was already signed to Red Bull at this stage and due to partner Carlos Sainz at junior team Toro Rosso for the 2015 season, having impressed in his European F3 season that year.

His Macau drive came a month after he had replaced Jean-Eric Vergne in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the youngest F1 driver ever at just 17 years old.

Discussing his Macau debut in an interview with The Straits Times, journalist Mattias Persson said Verstappen did something that was ‘unheard of’ when he came back through the field.

Max Verstappen recovers from 24th to seventh in Macau GP

Verstappen is known for his recovery drives, having recently put in a stunning performance during the Brazilian GP after starting from 17th on the grid.

At Macau he was down in 24th place after crashing on the narrow street circuit during the qualifying race while challenging for the lead. His performance drew criticism from onlookers, who felt Red Bull was rushing him too early into an F1 seat.

Verstappen would be vindicated at the end of the race when he surged through the field to finish in seventh around the difficult track to overtake and also took the fastest lap.

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“It’s definitely unheard of what Verstappen did that year,” said Persson.

“That 2014 season, I think it’s one of the standout performances that I’ve ever seen in motorsport.”

Current and former F1 drivers Esteban Ocon, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Nicholas Latifi were also in that race, while the victory went to IndyCar star Felix Rosenqvist showcasing the talent in the field.

Max Verstappen on the cusp of fourth F1 World Title

The next track that F1 will visit will be Las Vegas, where Verstappen is on the cusp of taking his fourth Drivers’ Championship after an intense season-long battle with Lando Norris.

Verstappen must outscore Norris to clinch the title with just 62 points separating them, after his victory in Brazil ended his 10-race streak without a win this year.

Luckly for him, the big pre-event launch in Las Vegas will not be happening after Verstappen said he ‘really hated’ it last year.

It should enable him to focus more on the weekend at hand given Las Vegas is a tough circuit to extract lap time from and both Ferrari and McLaren are set to be strong.