The phrase ‘generational talent’ has been quite commonly used while referring to Max Verstappen and for good reason. From a very young age, he was tipped to reach the summit of the motorsports world, and top teams took notice of his talent quite early. Among them, of course, was Red Bull.
Fans are familiar with how a 17-year-old Verstappen made his F1 debut for Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) during a free-practice session in Japan, making him the youngest to ever drive a car at the pinnacle of motorsport. But the Red Bull bosses knew long before that he would end up there.
3 OCTOBER, 2014
At Suzuka, @Max33Verstappen becomes the youngest driver in history to take part in an F1 race weekend
He finished an impressive P12 in FP1 for Toro Rosso – just three days after his 17th birthday #F1 #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/Pbxgj9U7eg
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 3, 2020
Franz Tost, team principal of Toro Rosso at the time, admitted to pushing for Verstappen’s signing himself on the Inside the Line podcast. He revealed how both he and Dr. Helmut Marko were mesmerized by the performance put in by Verstappen at a race in Germany three years before his debut—in 2012.
“It was clear for all of us that Max was a real special driver,” Tost said, before revealing what made Verstappen’s outing at the Norisring that day truly special.
“It was a wet race in F3, and the lap times are around 58, 57 seconds, and Max was one and a half seconds faster than the rest of the field. He was flying under wet conditions,” the Austrian added.
Verstappen’s laps were so good that Tost couldn’t help but remember Michael Schumacher’s performance at a wet race in Salzburgring in F4, which he personally witnessed in the late 80s. “There are such races in very difficult conditions. You can see who is able to drive a car, who is skilled to drive a car, and who will have a future”, Tost further explained.
Red Bull, after Tost’s assessment, realized that Verstappen was going to be an integral part of the team’s future. But they weren’t the only team chasing the Dutchman’s signature.
Mercedes, led by Toto Wolff, was also after the Dutchman. Verstappen’s father Jos, who was managing his son’s career at that point, however, chose to go ahead with Red Bull since the Milton Keynes-based team were willing to get him to F1 in a couple of years through their sister team Toro Rosso.
At Mercedes, Verstappen may not have gotten the chance to get to F1 as quickly. And it was an opportunity Wolff now regrets squandering.
Toto Wolff:
️ “Do I regret missing out on signing Max? Absolutely, but it wasn’t an option at the time. We had two drivers whom I was very satisfied with, Nico and Lewis. When Nico left, Valtteri Bottas was the option. Max wasn’t available anymore.” pic.twitter.com/zmuvttMlGZ
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) June 12, 2023
Verstappen repaid the faith Red Bull showed in him by helping the Milton Keynes-based outfit win two consecutive Constructors’ titles in 2022 and 2023. With him having registered 64 Grand Prix victories and four titles to his name, he has earned a spot at the table alongside F1’s greatest-ever drivers. To some, he’s already at the top.
