10 years ago, Max Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut, already at the Australian Grand Prix.

In ten years, a multitude of things have happened in Formula 1 : the single-seaters have evolved, the teams have changed and the drivers are almost no longer the same. In addition to the deans Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso et Nico Hulkenberg, alone Carlos Sainz et Max Verstappen were already on the grid 10 years ago. The Dutchman was the attraction of the year, making his Formula 1 debut at just 17 years old, a first in history that even prompted the FIA ​​to amend the regulations in subsequent years to prohibit drivers under 18 from accessing the pinnacle of motorsport.

The Hasselt native, with his rosy cheeks and baby face, made his debut in Melbourne for the first round of the 2015 season. At the wheel of his Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen managed to get into Q2 in his first qualifying (12th), a remarkable performance even if his teammate Carlos Sainz had managed to do a little better (8th), also starting his career in F1 that day.

Ultimately starting eleventh on the grid, Max Verstappen failed to score points in his first Grand Prix, the victim of an engine problem that forced him to retire. The Dutchman, however, made up for it in the second round of the year in Malaysia (7th), where he became the youngest driver to score points in F1 history at 17 years, 5 months and 29 days.

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Verstappen reportedly refused to give his younger self any advice before his debut

Ten years later, Jos Verstappen's son has 3 points, 023,5 wins, and four world championship titles. His career already makes him, at just 63 years old, one of the greatest in the history of the sport. As he enters his eleventh season in Formula 27, the driver Red Bull returns to the Melbourne circuit, the land of his beginnings ten years earlier.

"No, nothing at all, to be honest." Verstappen replies when asked what advice he would give to the young Max of 2015 before his first Grand Prix. “It’s important to make your mistakes and of course to feel that excitement in the moment, because if I had told then-Max Verstappen what he was going to achieve in this sport, it would be quite boring to already know what’s coming, right? You need that uncertainty. You need to feel the pressure of having to perform at that moment, trying to make your way to a top team. All those things. So no, I wouldn’t have given any advice to my 2015 self.”

A bit immature, a tad aggressive on track: Max Verstappen had certain flaws during his first seasons in Formula 1, which he has managed to erase – or mask – especially since his first championship title in 2021. The Dutchman is now setting out to attack a fifth crown in a row, a feat only achieved by Michael Schumacher in the history of Formula 1.

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