Max Verstappen says ‘not everyone’ at Red Bull was convinced about putting him in the car

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Max Verstappen won his Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix at the age of 18 years and 228 days. It’s the kind of record that may never be broken.

Sebastian Vettel, second on that list, was 21 years and 73 days old when he won the 2008 Italian GP for Toro Rosso. Fittingly, Verstappen had just been promoted from the Faenza team when he took victory at Barcelona.

The Dutchman started fourth but found himself immediately in victory contention after Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton took one another out. Verstappen’s superior strategy saw him take the lead from teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen called Verstappen’s rise ‘scary’ after he lost out to the Dutchman’s defensive masterclass. Now 28, he has won a further 67 Grands Prix for Red Bull.

Max Verstappen says debut win for Red Bull quashed internal doubts

Speaking on the Pelas Pistas podcast recently, Verstappen reflected on his maiden victory. He didn’t feel ‘stress’ on the grid because he’d already scored two fourth-place finishes with Toro Rosso (Hungary and USA 2015).

Three points finishes in the first four rounds of 2016 persuaded Christian Horner and Helmut Marko to fast-track his promotion to the main team at the expense of Daniil Kvyat. It was a ruthless call, particularly given Kvyat had been on the podium just two races earlier, but it was instantly justified.

While the most powerful figures were on side, Verstappen revealed that some team insiders weren’t ‘fully convinced’. Any ‘pressure’ stemming from those doubts was short-lived.

“When I was on the grid for the race, the team told me to just score points,” he said. “I knew a good result would be possible, but I already had P4 two times with Toro Rosso, so it was not like I had a lot of pressure or stress.

“But [I thought] I need to do a good start, stay out of trouble, not hit my teammate. In your first race, you have to be super careful with that. That’s why in turn one I was quite careful, and actually I lost out to Seb, but then I passed him around the outside in turn three.

“Then, of course, the whole thing in turn four happened, and I thought, ‘Maybe a podium is possible today, but a lot still has to go right, because back then I think it was two-stop, three-stop.’

“So I just settled in, tried to find my rhythm with the car and then the race just evolved. I tried not to overthink the situation. Just follow your instincts. When I crossed the line, it was crazy.”

“It takes a little bit of the pressure off, because I think at the time, not everyone in the team was fully convinced of putting me in the car. So that was a great start.”

F1’s youngest-ever race winners ranked with Max Verstappen first

After Verstappen and Vettel comes Charles Leclerc, who won the Belgian GP in his first season at Ferrari aged just 21. Leclerc followed that up with an even more memorable triumph at Monza immediately after.

Four of the five drivers achieved the feat in the 21st century, with Fernando Alonso taking top spot in 2003 before being progressively bumped down.

The exception is Bruce McLaren, who was 22 when he won the US GP in 1959 at Sebring.

McLaren was also F1’s youngest championship leader for 47 years until Lewis Hamilton came along, for the team he founded, in 2007.