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Volvo Photo Locations Part 152

Guldhedens vattentorn (watertower) is a watertower in Södra Guldheden in Göteborg, with the adress Doktor Sven Johanssons backe 1.

The watertower consists of a cylindrical reservoir that is supported by a central column and 20 columns with arches all around. In addition, there are 10 inner pillars to support. The outer arches and pillars reservoir has a facade of yellow brick. On the roof of the reservoir is a cylindrical top building containing a café for 40 guests, which opened to the public on June 4th 1953. The tower stands on Wattnebergen, as they were called earlier.

The tower was at the inauguration Göteborgs highest building. Approximately 1400 cubic meters of concrete was required for construction. Professor Granholm at Chalmers accounted for the construction. In the middle of the tower is a passenger elevator for two, or you choose to walk the 100 steps of stairs up to the top of the tower. During the first six months of the Tower of almost 75 000 people visited it. The six inches high and 32 meters long wall decoration, which runs like a strip around inside the roof, created by artist Tore Ahnoff. It has different designs from the city in the same direction as one can find them. The idea came from Gothenburg arts council. Preparatory work began May 1, 1953, and in December the same year started painting work.

The water tower is 22 meters high and towering total of 122 meters above sea level. The tower was built in 1951 to provide Guldheden and Johanneberg with fresh water and was connected to the water tower in Johanneberg through a long pipe, 40 centimeters in diameter. The water for the two towers was pumped from a pumping station at Eklandagatan and one at the Isolation Hospital. The tower was inaugurated March 19, 1953 of Waterworks Chairman, engineer Herbert Friberg and Urban College Vice Chairman Iwar Leandersson. It was designed by architect Nils Einar Eriksson.

Guldhedens water should not be confused with Guldhedens north water tower that has been converted into student housing. Guldhedens southern water tower, which is still in operation, it is colloquially called Guldhedens water.

More information at www.guldhedstornet.se and sv.wikipedia.org.

Volvo Photo Locations Part 151

Guldhedstorget is a town square in the northern Guldheden in Göteborg. It got its name in 1945 after its central location within the northern Guldheden, which was then under construction as part of the exhibition Bo Bättre (Better Living).

The entrance to the exhibition was positioned exactly where Reutersgatan meets Guldhedsgatan. The square surface is about 1800 square meters. Two low buildings delimit the square on each side, a former restaurant building and a block with three floors. Southeast of the square is the traffic junction Wavrinskys plats.

More information at sv.wikipedia.org and Göteborg Posten.

Volvo Photo Locations Part 150

Stockholm Waterfront, also known as Klara Hotell och Konferens is a building for offices, conferences and hotels. The building is located at Klarabergsviadukten in central Stockholm, at the place where Klara postterminal previously stood, overlooking Riddarfjärden. The complex is built for three functions, called Waterfront Building (offices), Radisson Blu Stockholm Waterfront (hotel) and Stockholm Waterfront (congresses). Architect is the White arkitekter firm. Radisson Blu operates the hotel and congress parts and was opened on January 20, 2011.

The first idea for a complex at the site was presented in early 21st century by architect Gert Wingårdh, a proposal for a new hotel and congress centre at the city block Bangårdsposetn 1 och 2. His proposition was however seen as to challenging at one of the most vulnerable places in Stockholm, on Riddarfjärden and neighboring the Stockholm City Hall and was never realized.

The present project Stockholm Waterfront began in 2005, when the City of Stockholm asked if Jarl Asset Management wanted to present a suggestion how the area at the old mail terminal could be developed. The city wanted a facility for congresses and a hotel, but for the project to be more economic the owners of Jarl Asset Management also build an office complex. White arkitekter was hired as architect. According to “Remiss- och samrådsredogörelse, Innerstadsavdelningen” of March 9, 2007 (Dp 2006-11281-54), the opinion was mostly in favour of the proposal and in August the detailed plan was legalized. The demolition of the previous buildings on the site was started in mid-2008 together with Klara postterminal.

The stainless façade was constructed from duplex stainless steel Z-profiles, 3 to 16 metres in length, approx. 26 kilometres in total, fabricated from duplex grade EN 1.4462 (ASTM 2205) supplied by Outokumpu. Fingerprint resistant austenitic grade EN 1.4301 (ASTM 304) was also supplied by Outokumpu for interior window and door frames.

More information at en.wikipedia.org, www.stockholmwaterfront.com and White architects.

Max Verstappen; born 30 September 1997, is a Belgian-Dutch racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One with Red Bull Racing. Aged 17 years, 166 days, he became the youngest driver to compete in Formula 1 at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix for Scuderia Toro Rosso. He is also the youngest driver to lead a lap during a Formula One Grand Prix, youngest driver to set the fastest lap during a Formula One Grand Prix, youngest driver to score points, youngest driver to secure a podium and youngest Formula One Grand Prix winner in history.

After spending the entire 2015 season with Scuderia Toro Rosso, he started his 2016 campaign with the Italian team, before being promoted into Red Bull Racing mid-season as a replacement for Daniil Kvyat. He won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix in his debut race for Red Bull Racing at the age of 18, becoming the youngest-ever winner of a Grand Prix and the first racing under the Dutch flag. He is the son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen.

Max was born into a family of racing drivers. His father Jos Verstappen is a former Formula One driver while his mother Sophie Kumpen is a former successful kart driver. His grandfather Paul Kumpen is a former GT endurance driver and his uncle Anthony Kumpen is a FIA GT and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver. Through his parents he holds both Belgian and Dutch citizenship, and although he was born and raised in Belgium he decided to compete with a Dutch racing licence because he spent most of his time karting surrounded by Dutch people.

In August 2014, Verstappen joined the Red Bull Junior Team after testing a Formula Renault 3.5 car. He also considered an offer from Mercedes to join their driver development programme. Six days later, he was confirmed as one of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s drivers for the 2015 season. It was confirmed that Carlos Sainz Jr. would be Verstappen’s teammate, following Daniil Kvyat’s promotion to Red Bull Racing. Verstappen chose 33 as his race number.

By taking part in the first free practice at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen became the youngest driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, as part of his preparation for a full-time place with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015.

In January 2015, the FIA launched a new super licence system for Formula One, raising the age limit to 18 from the 2016 season onwards. Verstappen became the youngest driver to start a World Championship race by joining the sport a year before this licence restriction, in his Grand Prix debut as a full-time driver at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix at the age of 17 years, 166 days – breaking Jaime Alguersuari’s existing record by almost two years. In this first race, Verstappen won points-scoring positions until he was forced to retire due to an engine failure. However, at the subsequent race in Malaysia, Verstappen qualified sixth and finished the race in seventh place, scoring his first Formula One points aged 17 years, 180 days, breaking the record of youngest driver to score World Championship points. After that he then failed to finish with points in China, due to engine failure in the last lap, Bahrain, due to electrical issues, Spain, settling for 11th.

At the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision with Romain Grosjean, after clipping the back of the Lotus on the approach to Sainte Devote and flew nose-first into the barriers at high speed. Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty for causing the accident, and was branded “dangerous” by Williams driver Felipe Massa – although Verstappen hit back at Massa by pointing out he had himself been involved in a similar incident with Sergio Pérez at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix.

Verstappen continued to regularly finish in the points as well as achieving his best finish of the 2015 season in Hungary by finishing 4th and equaled this result at the United States Grand Prix. At the end of the season, Verstappen received three awards at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony, for Rookie of the Year, Personality of the Year and Action of the Year for his overtake on Felipe Nasr through the outside of the Blanchimont corner at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen began the 2016 season at Toro Rosso, again alongside Sainz. Verstappen qualified fifth for the opening race of the season in Australia, but during the race made several radio calls to his team due to frustration at being behind Sainz on track before clipping his teammate whilst attempting to pass him with three laps to go, and he eventually finished tenth. Verstappen enjoyed a more successful weekend at the following race in Bahrain, finishing sixth to score Toro Rosso’s first ever points at the Sakhir circuit.

Following the Russian Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that Verstappen would be replacing Daniil Kvyat for the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, with Kvyat returning to Toro Rosso. According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, “Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him the opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing.”

After qualifying fourth for the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen rose to second behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out of the race. Verstappen took the race lead as he was placed on a two-stop rather than the same three-stop strategy as Ricciardo, and he held off Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen in the later stages of the race to take his first Formula One victory. By doing so he displaced Sebastian Vettel as the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One Grand Prix at the age of 18 years and 228 days.

In his first eight races with Red Bull he achieved six top-five finishes, including four podiums.

During the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen collided with Räikkönen at the first corner, pushed Vettel, Räikkönen and Pérez wide at Les Combes, and aggressively blocked Räikkönen on the Kemmel straight. Verstappen was criticized for his driving, with Räikkönen saying that he “was going to cause a huge accident sooner or later”; Verstappen’s boss, Horner, said that the driving was “on the edge”, and that “Verstappen will learn from Belgium”. On 2 September 2016 F1 director Charlie Whiting called in Verstappen for a discussion. Whiting gave Verstappen a gentle warning because of his aggressive driving. However, in October drivers’ concerns about Verstappen’s defensive tactics led the FIA to disallow moving under braking.

At the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified fourth. In a rain affected race, he barely managed to avoid hitting the guardrail when he spun on the main straight. After an additional tire change from intermediates back to rain tires, he ran in 16th place with just 15 laps remaining. Verstappen then made several overtakes in the closing laps to eventually finish on the podium in third place. He received considerable praise for his performance, with his team principal Christian Horner calling it “one of the best drives I’ve seen in Formula One”. However, he came under criticism from Sebastian Vettel, who claimed that Verstappen had pushed him off the track when he gained a position on him at Junção corner late in the race. The race stewards did not share Vettel’s view and decided that no reprimand was warranted.

During the first 14 races of the 2017 season, Verstappen suffered seven retirements, four due to mechanical issues, and three due to first lap collisions in Spain, Austria and Singapore. Of the races finished, however, he claimed a third place in China, and another five races classified fourth or fifth.

From the Malaysian Grand Prix onward, Verstappen enjoyed a surge of success. He won his second Formula One race at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, one day after his 20th birthday, passing Lewis Hamilton for the lead in the early stages of the race. He finished second in the following race in Japan. He then finished third at the United States Grand Prix, but was classified fourth after his final lap overtake on Kimi Räikkönen was deemed illegal. He then won his third Formula One race (and second in 2017) at the Mexican Grand Prix, after passing Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap and leading until the end of the race.

In the first 6 races of the 2018 season, Verstappen had been involved in at least one incident in each race. In Australia, he qualified 4th, but fell behind Kevin Magnussen at the start. In his attempts to retake the position he ran wide multiple times and damaged his car. He then spun at Turn 1 and fell behind Romain Grosjean, a recovering Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg. He then managed, due to strategy and the retirement of the Haas cars to salvage 6th place, coming home behind Fernando Alonso, who had jumped him in the virtual safety car period. At the next race in Bahrain, he crashed during qualifying and started in 15th place. He had a productive first lap after which he found himself in the points while challenging Lewis Hamilton. He attempted an overtake on the reigning World Champion at the start of lap two, but collided with the Mercedes driver and suffered a puncture that ultimately led to suspension damage which forced him out of the race.

At the next race, in China, he qualified 5th and had moved up to 3rd at the end of the first lap. Both Verstappen and teammate Ricciardo pitted for fresh tyres during the safety car and left them with a tyre advantage over the front-runners ahead. Verstappen tried to overtake Lewis Hamilton around the outside of Turn 6 but ran wide and off the track, resulting in Ricciardo overtaking him. Once he had dispatched of Hamilton for 4th place, he tried to take 3rd from Sebastian Vettel but he collided with the championship leader, causing him to fall to 8th, while receiving a 10-second penalty. Following this he, once again, passed the struggling Mercedes of Hamilton for 4th and finished in that position. However, he still finished 5th due to his 10-second penalty. Meanwhile, his teammate Ricciardo went on to win the race.

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he was embroiled in a race-long battle with Ricciardo for 4th place. After the Australian had beaten him to 4th on the grid, Verstappen seized the position following an early safety car restart. Ricciardo challenged many times for the place and eventually succeeded in passing his teammate. However, Ricciardo, supposedly on the more favourable strategy, fell behind Verstappen after the pit stops. He then tried another overtake but Verstappen aggressively defended and ran into the back of the Dutchman’s car, causing the retirement of both. The team blamed both drivers and the stewards reprimanded both drivers.

Verstappen bounced back in Spain with his first podium of the season by finishing 3rd behind the Mercedes cars, holding off Sebastian Vettel. However, the race was also not without incident as he had run into the back of Lance Stroll during the virtual safety car period, damaging his front wing. The damage his car was not severe and he held on to 3rd place.

In Monaco, Verstappen made another error when he crashed near the end of the third free pactice session in an incident which closely resembled a crash he had at the same spot two years earlier. His team could not repair his car in time for qualifying and he had to start last on a track which is notoriously difficult to overtake on. Verstappen managed to salvage 2 points by finishing 9th place, overtaking 6 cars on track. Team principal Christian Horner commented on Verstappen’s start of the season, saying he “needed to stop making these mistakes” and that he could “learn from his teammate”, while Dr Helmut Marko, head of driver development at Red Bull, said that Verstappen was “too impatient”. Verstappen, following Monaco, lied in 6th place in the championship with 35 points, only 3 points ahead of Alonso in a much slower Mclaren, and 37 points behind his teammate in 3rd, who had taken two wins in the first 6 races.

At the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix, Verstappen topped all three practice sessions and qualified 3rd and was two tenths off pole position which was won by Sebastian Vettel. At the beginning of the race, Verstappen pushed Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas for 2nd place. However a safety car was deployed during the middle of the 1st lap caused by a collision between Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley and Williams Grand Prix Engineering driver Lance Stroll. He finished third in the race and set the fastest lap of the race on lap 65.

The 2018 French Grand Prix brought him second place. At the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, on Red Bull’s home track, he started fourth on the grid, passed Kimi Räikkönen and taking advantage of retirement from Valtteri Bottas and a botched pit-stop strategy by Lewis Hamilton, who later had to retire in fourth place, he won the fourth race of his career.

In Austria—Red Bull’s home track, he started fourth on the grid, passed Kimi Räikkönen before taking advantage of retirement from Valtteri Bottas and a botched pit-stop strategy by Lewis Hamilton, who later had to retire from fourth place, to claim the fourth race victory of his career.

In Britain, Verstappen was plagued by issues, finishing the first practice session early due to a gearbox problem and crashing in the second practice session before retiring from the race due to a brake problem.

He would then finish fourth in Germany after strategy errors let a recovering Hamilton get past him as he went on to win the race.
Verstappen ended the first half of the season with a retirement in Hungary and was narrowly behind his teammate in the championship due to his own recent resurgence and Ricciardo’s unreliability.

Verstappen enjoyed a very strong second half of the season, achieving podium finishes in Belgium, Singapore, Japan and the United States, the latter of which he achieved second place having started from 18th on the grid due to a suspension failure in qualifying.

Following the qualifying session at the Mexican Grand Prix, Verstappen revealed that a mechanical problem with his Red Bull under braking cost him any chance of becoming the youngest-ever Formula One pole-sitter. As a result, Ricciardo beat Verstappen to pole position by just 0.026 seconds. Verstappen had a better start than Ricciardo and took the lead of the race into the first corner, overtaking the fast-starting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen earned his fifth career win in Mexico.

He was poised to win the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, having overtaken Räikkönen, Vettel, Bottas, and Hamilton. However, he collided with Force India driver Esteban Ocon who was trying to unlap himself on faster tyres. Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident. After the collision with Ocon, Verstappen finished in second place behind Hamilton. During an argument with Ocon after the race, Verstappen pushed the Force India driver, for which he was given two days of “public service” as a penalty by the FIA. He then finished his season with another podium as he finished third in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen ended the 2018 season in fourth place in the championship with 249 points, claiming two wins, eleven podium finishes, and two fastest laps.

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In 2019 Red Bull switched from Renault to Honda power units. After Ricciardo moved to the Renault team for 2019, Verstappen was joined at Red Bull by Pierre Gasly. Verstappen qualified in fourth and finished third in Australia, the first podium finish for a Honda-powered driver since the 2008 British Grand Prix.

Verstappen was on course for a second third-place finish in Bahrain before a late safety car prevented him from overtaking Charles Leclerc’s ailing Ferrari, keeping him in fourth place.

Two more fourth-place finishes followed in China and Azerbaijan, and a podium in Spain in third place.

In Monaco, Verstappen qualified in third place. He was released into the path of Valtteri Bottas during the drivers’ pit stops, gaining second place but receiving a 5-second penalty as a result. Verstappen crossed the line in second place but was demoted to fourth by the penalty.

In Canada, Verstappen’s final lap in the second qualifying session was hampered by a red flag brought out by Kevin Magnussen’s crash. This caused Verstappen to qualify 11th and start the race in ninth place.
He later recovered to finish fifth.

In France he started and finished in fourth place. In Austria, Verstappen started third but suffered a poor start, dropping down to eighth. After a charge towards the front, he made his way up to second before controversially passing Leclerc for the lead of the race with three laps to go.

This marked the first Honda-powered race victory since the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

In Britain, Verstappen, running in third place, was hit from behind during an overtake attempt by Sebastian Vettel and spun into the gravel. Verstappen was able to continue and crossed the line in fifth place.

The wet and chaotic German Grand Prix began similarly to the race in Austria for Verstappen, as a poor start caused him to fall behind. However, he would inherit the lead midway through the race after a crash by race leader Hamilton. Verstappen would go on to extend his lead after the track began to dry, claiming his second victory of the season.

In Hungary, he claimed the first pole position of his career and led most of the race before being passed in the closing laps by Hamilton, who had made another stop for fresh tyres in a gamble to catch the leader.

Before the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen received a new teammate in Alexander Albon after Pierre Gasly was demoted back to Toro Rosso. In the race, Verstappen had a poor start and collided with Kimi Räikkönen at the first corner, resulting in suspension damage and causing Verstappen’s first retirement of the season.

In Italy, he did not set a time during qualifying after his car lost power in Q1, but he was already required to start from the back of the grid due to an engine component penalty. After damaging his front wing on the first lap, he recovered to finish the race in eighth place. A third and fourth-place finishes followed in Singapore and Russia respectively.

After suffering damage in a first-lap collision with Charles Leclerc in Japan, Verstappen suffered his second retirement of the season.

In Mexico, he qualified in first place after setting the fastest lap-time of the session, before being handed a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags after a crash by Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen suffered a puncture early in the race after making contact with Bottas, falling to the back of the field before eventually recovering to sixth place.

A third-place finish in the United States followed, before Verstappen took the second pole position of his career with a 1:07.508 pole lap time in Brazil. In a chaotic race, he passed Lewis Hamilton for the lead on two occasions before going on to claim his third victory of the season. Verstappen ended the season with a second-place finish in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen finished the 2019 season in third place in the championship with 278 points. He claimed three race victories, nine podium finishes, two pole positions, and three fastest laps.

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In 2020, Verstappen signed a contract extension to race for Red Bull until the end of 2023.

Verstappen continued to race for Red Bull in 2020, alongside Albon. At the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, he started second, but retired early in the race after a flywheel-related problem caused an electronic issue within the power unit. Honda introduced countermeasures in response to the retirement.

At the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, he crashed in wet conditions during the formation lap while he was on his way to the starting grid, but he was able to drive the car back to the grid where his mechanics fixed the suspension of the car in the short time that was left before the start of the race. After the repairs, Verstappen progressed from seventh place on the grid to second place by the end of the race. Verstappen won the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, having started from fourth.

Verstappen clinched second place at the Spanish Grand Prix, after qualifying in third.

At the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix, he scored a podium in third place, following his third place on the starting grid.

He suffered from two consecutive DNFs at the Italian and Tuscan Grands Prix after which he lost second place in the Championship.

At the Russian Grand Prix, Verstappen finished the race in second, his seventh podium finish of 2020.

At the Eifel Grand Prix, Verstappen finished in second after qualifying in third. He also managed to get the fastest lap of the race.

At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third, however a poor first lap meant that he dropped back down the order to fifth place. He recovered to third and took his 40th podium in Formula 1. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen looked set to claim second due to Valtteri Bottas’ ailing Mercedes slowing down, but a sudden puncture denied him any chance of a podium finish; Verstappen spun, resulting in his fourth retirement of the 2020 season.

During Free Practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen was criticised for comments he made on the team radio after a collision with Lance Stroll, where he used the words “retard” and “mongol” in response to the clash. Verstappen admitted following the session that the word choices he used were “not correct.” The Mongolian government and the Mongol identity asked Verstappen to apologise for the comments; the Mongolian government also urged the FIA to take action on the comments he made.

Verstappen finished the 2020 season in third place in the championship with 214 points. He claimed two race victories, eleven podium finishes, one pole position, and three fastest laps.

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At first race of the 2021 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen topped all the practice sessions and subsequently took a career fourth pole position. This was the first time he achieved back-to-back pole positions. He fought Lewis Hamilton for the race victory, and on lap 53 Verstappen overtook Hamilton, but went off track whilst doing so, resulting in him being instructed by race control to let Hamilton back into the lead and ultimately finishing second behind Hamilton.

At the next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third with teammate Sergio Pérez second, marking the first time he was out-qualified by a teammate since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. At the race start, Verstappen was able to pass both Pérez and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. He remained in the lead after the first round of pit stops as well as the restart, following the race being suspended on lap 33. Rival Hamilton finished second, reducing his championship lead over Verstappen to one point.

In the following Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen finished second after a long battle with Lewis Hamilton.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton continued, with Hamilton employing a faster two-stop strategy versus Verstappen’s one-stop race. This provided Hamilton the advantage of faster tyres, allowing him to overtake Verstappen with several laps remaining in the race. Hamilton took the victory, with Verstappen taking second and the fastest lap, increasing Hamilton’s championship lead to 14 points.

At the next race in Monaco, Verstappen qualified second behind Charles Leclerc, but Leclerc suffered a driveshaft failure on the way to the grid and was unable to start the race. Verstappen controlled the race from the front on the way to victory. Hamilton (who qualified seventh) finished seventh, though claiming an extra championship point by setting the fastest race lap. The result enabled Verstappen to take the lead in the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career, by a margin of four points over Hamilton.

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third behind Leclerc and Hamilton. Verstappen and Hamilton passed Leclerc in the opening laps before Verstappen took the lead by way of a faster pitstop. Verstappen would comfortably hold the lead until lap 46 when he suffered a tyre failure causing him to crash at high-speed and retire. A mistake by Hamilton on the restart dropped him to last place, meaning Verstappen maintained his championship lead.

Verstappen took pole for the French Grand Prix. Verstappen’s mistake on the first lap allowed Hamilton to take the lead which Verstappen retook during the pit stop phase. Verstappen pitted for a second time from the lead and set after the Mercedes duo, overtaking Hamilton for the lead on lap 52 of 53. He also took the fastest lap point, extending his championship lead to twelve points. Verstappen clinched pole position again at the Styrian Grand Prix and led the race from start to finish, to give him his fourth win of the season and further extend his lead to 18 points.

Verstappen took pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, led every lap from start to finish, set the fastest lap, and won the race for his first career grand slam, being the youngest to do so. With the win, Verstappen also became the first driver to win three races in three consecutive weekends, starting at the French Grand Prix on 20 June, then the Styrian Grand Prix on 27 June and ending with the Austrian Grand Prix on 4 July.

At the next race; the British Grand Prix, Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision at the Copse corner with Hamilton on the first lap. This resulted in a 51 g impact with the barrier. He was taken to the Silverstone circuit’s medical centre after the crash and was then taken to Coventry hospital for precautionary checks and further assessment, before eventually being discharged at 22:00 local time on Sunday night. Hamilton would go on to win the race, reducing Verstappen’s lead in the championship to eight points.

At the next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen’s car suffered damage in a multi-car collision on lap 1, where Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was deemed at fault. He ended the race in tenth which was promoted to ninth after Sebastian Vettel was disqualified. The outcome of the race allowed Hamilton to take the lead of the championship.

Following the summer break, Verstappen qualified on pole at the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of Williams driver George Russell in second and Lewis Hamilton in third. The race was run for three laps, all behind the safety car, with the race official race results taken from the running order at the end of the first lap, with Hamilton and Verstappen both retaining their qualifying positions. As less than 75% of the race distance was completed, half points were awarded, resulting in Verstappen closing the gap to Hamilton to three points.

At the Dutch Grand Prix Verstappen again qualified on pole, beating Hamilton by 0.038 seconds. During the race Verstappen was able to fend off attacks from both Mercedes drivers to take the win, taking the lead in the Drivers’ Championship by three points.

The Italian Grand Prix was held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Verstappen again started from pole. On lap 25, Verstappen and Hamilton collided after the latter had just left the pit lane, and both had to finish the race without points.

For the Russian Grand Prix, Verstappen was required to start at the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit components. He made his way back up the field, and after taking an early pit stop for intermediate tyres late in the race, he finished second.

At the Turkish Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified second with Bottas on pole. With the race being run in wet conditions and the drivers on intermediate tyres the whole race, Verstappen finished second behind Bottas, taking the lead in the Drivers’ Championship by six points as Hamilton finished fifth.

The twin Red Bull Racing RB16B cars of Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez will feature a predominantly white livery inspired by the legendary Honda RA 272 car, in which US racer Richie Ginther secured the company’s maiden Formula 1 win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The Red Bull cars were in white as a tribute to their outgoing racing partner Honda. The Japanese manufacturer will bid farewell to the Austrian team after seven years of providing its engine, as it bows out of F1. Driver numbers are also placed on red circle backdrops – a reference to the flag of Japan.

At the United States Grand Prix, Verstappen took pole position in qualifying, edging Hamilton by 0.209 seconds. Verstappen won the race and extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to twelve points as Hamilton finished second with the fastest lap.

At the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third with a gap to pole-sitter Bottas of 0.350 seconds. Verstappen’s main opponent Hamilton qualified second. At the race start, Verstappen took the lead from Bottas and Hamilton into turn 1 and won the race, and as a result extended his lead in the championship to 19 points.

Verstappen and Hamilton were on equal points in the Drivers’ Championship going into the final round, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Verstappen leading on countback. Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the final lap to win the race, and his first Formula One World Drivers’ Championship. Verstappen, who had qualified on pole position by nearly four tenths of a second, had a slow start off the line at the start of the race and dropped to second place. Verstappen was trailing Hamilton by over ten seconds until a late safety car was called in due to a crash at turn 14 involving Williams driver Nicholas Latifi. The withdrawal of the safety car and the resumption of the race following the safety car period was met with controversy. Race director Michael Masi allowed only a certain number of lapped cars through, which after the race brought from the Mercedes team a protest and stated intention to appeal against the race result, arguing that all lapped cars should be allowed through, Red Bull counter argued that this was not specified by the wording of the regulations. The protest was rejected, although subsequent investigation by the FIA ruled that Masi had misinterpreted the rule and the wording of the rule was amended for the 2022 season to specify that “all” cars will unlap themselves (at the race director’s discretion) rather than “any”.

Verstappen passed Hamilton at turn 5 of the final lap of the race to become the 34th Formula One World Drivers’ Champion.

In March 2022 Verstappen signed a five-year contract extension with Red Bull Racing for the 2023 to 2028 seasons.

Verstappen suffered two fuel system related retirements in the first three races, finding himself 46 points behind championship leader Charles Leclerc. He responded by winning five of the next seven races, allowing him to take the championship lead and build a gap of 37 points over second place, by then held by his teammate Sergio Pérez.

More information on Max Verstappen on verstappen.nl.

Overview Dutch Formula One drivers:

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)

The Netherlands has had many successful Formula One drivers in the past.

Max Verstappen is the most succesful one and of the latest Dutchman to join this exclusive group of drivers.

Dutchman Jan Flinterman was the first one in 1952 to race a Formula One Grand Prix.

In 2022 we saw a new Dutchman entering Formula 1, Nyck de Vries. All eyes are on him today of lets hope he’ll find a seat for the 2023 season!

Who were those Dutch Formula One drivers?

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)

* Rob Slotermaker and Robin Frijns never participated in a Formula One Grand Prix race. Slotemakers F1 Porsche was not ready for the 1962 Dutch GP race and Frijns was only a F1 testdriver in 2013 for Sauber and in 2014 for Caterham. He has not yet entered a Formula One Grand Prix. They are in this list because they have been very closed to a F1.

How about the Dutch Grand Prix Formula One?

Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991 in Maastricht, Netherlands) is a Dutch auto racing driver, but lives in Belgium. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, and the first driver to have won the series in his debut season since Robert Kubica in 2005.

On 18 October 2012, Sauber announced that Frijns will be driving their car during the third round of Young Drivers Test in Abu Dhabi alongside the team’s testing and reserve driver Esteban Gutiérrez.

As the highest-placed Formula Renault driver not attached to any established Formula One team, Frijns was also added to Red Bull Racing’s line-up for the test.

Reflecting on Frijns’ 2012 season, ESPN commentator Ben Evans opined that “anything less than a Formula One race seat next year would be a travesty”.

On 23 November 2012 it was announced that Robin Frijns would become part of the Sauber F1 Team, and would serve as test and reserve driver in 2013.

On 21 January 2014, Frijns confirmed that he will be a reserve driver for the Caterham F1 Team in the 2014 F1 season.

More information on Robert Frijns on www.robinfrijns.com.

Overview Dutch Formula One drivers:

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)

Giedo van der Garde (born April 25, 1985 in Rhenen, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver. He is currently a test and reserve driver for Sauber.

On December 15, 2006 van der Garde was confirmed as the Super Aguri Formula One team’s test and reserve driver for the 2007 season.

On February 1, 2007 van der Garde was unexpectedly announced by Spyker F1 as the team’s test and reserve driver. On February 2, 2007 Super Aguri confirmed their belief their existing contract with van der Garde was still in force, stating “Super Aguri F1 Team has a valid contract with Giedo van der Garde to drive for the team in the position of Friday and Test Driver for the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. The contract was submitted by the SAF1 Team to the Contracts Recognition Board on 23rd January 2007.” However, on June 20, 2007 van der Garde tested at Silverstone with Spyker, indicating the contract dispute has been resolved. Spyker originally intended van der Garde to be the team’s Friday driver at the Australian Grand Prix, but he failed to obtain the necessary superlicence from the FIA in time.

Van der Garde was a candidate to race in Formula One for Virgin in 2011, but that seat eventually went to Belgian Jérôme d’Ambrosio.

On February 4, 2012, it was announced that van der Garde would be Reserve Driver for Caterham F1 for the 2012 Formula One season. Van der Garde’s first Friday practice session came at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix; he went onto complete 6 Friday practice sessions throughout the 2012 season.

On February 1, 2013, van der Garde’s management announced that he would drive for Caterham as their second driver for the 2013 Formula One season, next to Charles Pic. Van der Garde finished his first Formula One race with an 18th place at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.

At the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix, van der Garde achieved Caterham’s highest ever qualifying place with a P15, this was also the first time that a Caterham made it to Q2 in the 2013 season. Van der Garde equalled his career best 15th during the race despite an early collision with Williams F1 driver Pastor Maldonado. He later improved on this performance by finishing 14th during the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate Pic as well as Marussia drivers Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.

He then bested his previous best qualifying position at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix by qualifying 14th after electing to go on slicks on a continuously drying track, having finished the Q1 session in 3rd place after adopting a similar strategy. But despite a good start that saw him remain in touch with the more established teams for the first few laps, he was unable to improve upon his grid position and finished 16th, a lap down on the leaders.

On 21 January 2014, it was announced that van der Garde had joined Sauber as a reserve driver for the 2014 season.

In June 2014, Giedo signed a contract with Sauber to drive for the 2015 season.

Sauber arrived in Australia embroiled in a legal dispute that threatened their very existence, with the team’s former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde claiming he had a valid contract to race for them in Melbourne.

An Australian court agreed, and the team risked having its assets seized and team principal Monisha Kaltenborn arrested if he was prevented from doing so.

But Van der Garde dropped his legal action on Saturday, allowing Marcus Ericsson and rookie driver Felipe Nasr to race for the team as planned.

More information on Giedo at giedovandergarde.com.

Overview Dutch Formula One drivers:

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)

Christijan Albers (born 16 April 1979 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from 2005 until the 2007 British Grand Prix, shortly after which he was dropped by the Spyker F1 team. In 2008, he returned to the DTM series as a driver for the Audi Futurecom TME team. Albers acted as Team Principal and CEO of the Caterham F1 Team from July to September 2014 after it was acquired by new team owners.

While racing in the DTM, Albers continued to be a test and reserve driver for Minardi’s Formula One interests, and also drove the team’s two-seater Formula One cars. In November 2004, he set the fastest time at a Misano di Gera d’Adda Minardi test session. He was chosen by the team to drive in the Formula One World Championship in 2005.

In the 2005 United States Grand Prix he gained his first championship points with a fifth place finish, in a race where only six drivers started.

On 31 October 2005 Albers was confirmed as Midland’s first official Formula One driver. Midland, the renamed Jordan team, made their debut in the 2006 Formula One season.

Albers started the 2006 season well, out-pacing Midland teammate Tiago Monteiro. However, during the first few races, Midland found themselves battling with the Super Aguri team, particularly Takuma Sato. At the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, Albers found himself being crashed into by Yuji Ide and sent into a series of spectacular rolls. Fortunately, he was unharmed. Ide was reprimanded by the race stewards for his part in the incident. Ide also had his Super Licence revoked for severe dangerous driving.

After initial confusion over Albers’ plans for 2007 after the takeover of MF1 by Spyker Cars, it was eventually confirmed that he would be driving for the Spyker F1 team in 2007.

It was later found out that Albers signed a contract with Midland F1 to remain with the team prior to the sale to Spyker. Albers’ personal sponsors had major influences in Spyker buying the Midland F1 team.

In early 2007 he was outperformed by rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil. At Magny-Cours he ignored the lollipop telling him not to leave the pits during a pitstop, driving off with part of the fuel rig still attached. Albers expressed relief that nobody was hurt, but he received a €5,000 penalty for dangerous driving. Spyker technical director Mike Gascoyne commented that he was mystified by the mistake, and Niki Lauda described the incident as the stupidest thing he had ever seen in F1.

On 10 July 2007 he was released from his Spyker contract, due to a lack of sponsorship money, which would have compromised the team’s development programme. Team owner Michiel Mol described it as “one of the toughest decisions of my career”. His replacement for the 2007 European Grand Prix was former Spyker test driver Markus Winkelhock. Sakon Yamamoto then raced for Spyker for the rest of the year.

Albers returned with the Spyker team for the Rotterdam street racing event in the Netherlands, on the 18 / 19 August.

On 2 July 2014 Tony Fernandes sold the Caterham F1 Team to a consortium of Swiss-Middle Eastern investors. Subsequently team principal Cyril Abiteboul stepped down and Albers was given his position in the team by the consortium. He ran the team on a day-to-day basis until september 2014.

Overview Dutch Formula One drivers:

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)

Robert Doornbos (born 23 September 1981 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver. He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in 2005 and 2006.

Doornbos then drove for Minardi Team USA in the 2007 and final season of the Champ Car World Series. He competed in the Superleague Formula racing series in 2008, and drove for the Netherlands team in A1 Grand Prix’s 2008–2009 season. In 2009, Doornbos competed in the IndyCar Series. He began the season with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, but switched to HVM Racing after the race in Kentucky Speedway.

Doornbos’ first sport was tennis. His interest in motorsport grew after he was invited to the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as a guest of WilliamsF1. It was 1997 Formula One Champion Jacques Villeneuve who suggested that he should go for a series such as Formula Ford, as he was too big and too old to race karts. He gave up tennis and focused on racing, joining the JR racing team for the 1999 Opel Lotus UK Winter series. He had a successful season, finishing second in the championship after taking four pole positions, four fastest laps and four wins. In 2000, he competed in the Formula Ford Zetec Benelux series, finishing second in the Belgian championship and fifth overall with one pole, three fastest laps and six podiums.

With support from Red Bull, Doornbos joined reigning International Formula 3000 champions Arden International for the 2004 FIA International Formula 3000 Championship. Partnered with Vitantonio Liuzzi, Doornbos claimed Rookie of the Year after finishing third in the championship. During the year, he took a fastest lap and four podium finishes, including a race win at Spa-Francorchamps.

Prior to the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, it was announced that Doornbos would be the official Friday test driver for the Jordan Formula One team, replacing Timo Glock, who had been promoted to race duties in place of Giorgio Pantano, whose sponsorship money had “dried up”. Doornbos impressed as test driver for the final few races of the season, and was reappointed with the newly-sold Jordan team for the 2005 season.

Doornbos completed Friday testing duties for Jordan in all but two of the first 11 events of the year, with French Renault F1 test driver Franck Montagny testing at the European Grand Prix, and Jordan being banned from using a third car at the Canadian Grand Prix after using too many tyres at the previous race.

On 19 July Doornbos was appointed as a Minardi race driver for the 2005 German Grand Prix onwards, replacing Austrian Patrick Friesacher, who had encountered sponsorship issues. In his first Formula One race, he collided with Jacques Villeneuve, the man who gave advice to Doornbos to start his career as a race driver. Doornbos raced a total of eight Grand Prix for the team, his best result being a 13th position in the Turkish and Belgian Grands Prix.

Doornbos and teammate Christijan Albers became the first all-Dutch team line-up since Carel Godin de Beaufort and Ben Pon drove together for the Ecurie Maarsbergen team at the 1962 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The teammates, however, were not the best of friends, which made the internal competition only more interesting. As Doornbos became more adapted to the car, he came closer to his teammate and in the last few races, was often the faster of the two.

Effectively, he would become Minardi’s last Formula One driver, since the team was bought by Red Bull just before the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Minardi team ceased to exist in its previous form at the end of 2005, being bought out by Red Bull and becoming their Scuderia Toro Rosso team. Doornbos was unable to find a race drive for 2006, but Christian Horner, his former F3000 boss, had since been appointed as Sporting Director of Red Bull Racing, where he was appointed the team’s test and reserve driver.

He thus spent most of 2006 testing at the racetracks on Fridays, ready to step into a race drive if either David Coulthard or Christian Klien were unable to race. In his role as the Red Bull test driver, he once more showed his talents as a racing driver. In the majority of the Grand Prix tests on Fridays, he was to be found in the top 10, and a number of times he achieved a top three time.

At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, he was involved in a controversial incident with Fernando Alonso, which resulted in the Spaniard incurring a two-second qualifying penalty.

After the Italian Grand Prix, when Red Bull Racing announced that Klien had been dropped from the team, Doornbos was promoted to the second race driver role alongside Coulthard for the remaining three races. He entered with a bang by qualifying in the top 10 for his first race, in China. However, he touched Robert Kubica at the first corner during the race and the delay restricted him to 12th place at the finish.

He was subsequently signed as one of the team’s test drivers for 2007, alongside Michael Ammermüller, with Coulthard and Mark Webber taking the race seats.

In his role as Formula One test and racing driver, Robert Doornbos has given several demonstrations, both on tracks during other race events, as well as on public road. In the Netherlands, he has driven a Formula One car on public roads twice. In 2005, he was one of the drivers of the Monaco aan de Maas event in his hometown of Rotterdam. On 15 August 2006, he made the news with a fundraiser for the children of the ‘Stichting Geluk en Vrijheid’ (Foundation Happiness and Freedom). At a speed of 326 km/h (204 mph), he drove his Red Bull Formula One Car over the highway A7 on the Afsluitdijk in the Netherlands.

Overview Dutch Formula One drivers:

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)

Jos Verstappen (born 4 March 1972, in Montfort) self-styled “Jos the Boss” is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races. Prior to his F1 début in 1994, he was also the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.

On August 18, 2014, it was announced that Jos Verstappen’s son, Max Verstappen, will debut in Formula One in 2015 for the Toro Rosso team.

Verstappen first drove a Formula One car when he tested for the Footwork Arrows team alongside Gil de Ferran and Christian Fittipaldi at the Estoril circuit in Portugal. The test took place on September 28, 1993, two days after the Portuguese Grand Prix was held at the same circuit. Despite the large increase in power (from a 175 bhp Formula Three car to the 750 bhp of Formula One), Verstappen set a time that would have qualified him in the preceding race on his fourth timed lap, and improved his time by more than a second after 65 laps. His best lap time of the day was 1:14.45, which was only 0.07 seconds slower than regular driver Derek Warwick had lapped during qualifying, and would have placed him tenth on the grid, a highly impressive performance for a first test. He tested again on September 30 and was lapping near his existing record after five laps, but then crashed the car, ending the test early.

After the test, Verstappen was contacted by every Formula One team except Ferrari and Williams, and was eventually signed as the Benetton team’s test driver for the 1994 season.

After a crash in pre-season testing by regular driver JJ Lehto (who broke a vertebra), Verstappen drove in the first two races of the season as a substitute, partnering Michael Schumacher and made his Formula One debut at the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix. During the race he collided with Eddie Irvine, which triggered a multiple accident also involving Éric Bernard and Martin Brundle. Verstappen’s car somersaulted, but he emerged unharmed. At the Pacific Grand Prix Verstappen ran 6th but spun off on cold tyres immediately after a pit stop. Lehto was fit for the next race at Imola, but his performances in subsequent races were disappointing and he was rested by Benetton following the Canadian Grand Prix, allowing Verstappen to return to the race seat.

One of the most dramatic incidents affected Verstappen at the German Grand Prix. During his first scheduled pitstop during the race, fuel leaked onto the car after the fuel hose was disconnected, setting the car, with Verstappen in it, ablaze for a brief period. As was usual at the time, Verstappen had slightly opened the visor of his helmet for the pit stop, and he walked away with slight burns to his nose. After this incident the fuel delivery hose was modified to incorporate a fail-safe cut-out system.

A high point in this season was Verstappen’s third place during the next Grand Prix in Hungary, Schumacher having allowed Verstappen to unlap himself on the final lap to pass Martin Brundle’s stricken McLaren-Peugeot. He took another third place at the Belgian Grand Prix due to Schumacher’s post-race disqualification from victory, and a fifth place at the Portuguese Grand Prix. A curiosity was his accident during a practice session for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, in which Verstappen rammed his car into the pit wall causing debris to fly up and destroy a TV installation. Due to this accident, this equipment is now protected from the race track by acrylic glass.

For the last two races of the season, Verstappen was replaced by the more experienced Johnny Herbert in a bid to win the Constructors’ Championship for Benetton. The team was unsuccessful in this aim and the prize went to the rival Williams team.

In 1995 he was loaned to Simtek by Benetton team principal Flavio Briatore. Despite some strong showings (including running 6th at the Argentine Grand Prix before a poor pit stop and subsequent gearbox failure) Verstappen only finished once in the five races he drove for the team due to technical difficulties. The team had deep financial troubles and went bankrupt after the Monaco Grand Prix. Out of a race drive, Verstappen did some test driving with Benetton and Ligier (then part-owned by Briatore and Tom Walkinshaw). Briatore decided against taking up his option for Verstappen in 1996, signing Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger to drive instead.

In 1996 he drove for the Footwork team and impressed in the early rounds, running 5th in Interlagos and finishing 6th in Buenos Aires. Shortly after the team was taken over by Walkinshaw’s TWR organisation. During the Belgian Grand Prix a part of the suspension of Verstappen’s car broke off, causing him to crash heavily. He ended up with a prolonged neck injury. Initially Verstappen featured strongly in Walkinshaw’s plans for 1997 (the new owner at one point threatening to replace him with a pay driver unless he signed for another season) but the surprise availability of Damon Hill (soon to be crowned World Champion) saw him dropped instead. His form in the second half of the season dropped off as development on the 1996 car ground to a standstill, TWR Arrows focusing instead on 1997.

In 1997 he went to the Tyrrell team but did not score any points, though he briefly ran 5th in the Canadian Grand Prix. The team suffered from an underpowered Ford Cosworth EDV V8 engine and a lack of funding leaving Verstappen and team-mate Mika Salo struggling towards the rear of the field. Verstappen’s best result for the team was 8th at the wet Monaco Grand Prix.

Before the 1998 season Tyrrell were sold to British American Tobacco, who intended to rebrand the team as British American Racing in 1999 after one final season under the Tyrrell banner. Ken Tyrrell wanted to retain Verstappen alongside Tora Takagi but BAT insisted on taking pay driver Ricardo Rosset alongside the young Japanese driver. Tyrrell himself left the team in disgust over the matter, leaving Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite to run the team.

Out of a regular drive for 1998, Verstappen tested for Benetton once again early in the year, but the team would not hire him as a permanent test driver for lack of sponsors. As an experienced, fast free agent Verstappen was a common name mentioned in pit lane gossip as a replacement for underperforming drivers. He would eventually return to the series at the French Grand Prix, replacing Jan Magnussen at Stewart. However, the car was uncompetitive, the team struggled to run two cars to the same level and Verstappen did not perform significantly better than his predecessor. Johnny Herbert was signed to partner Rubens Barrichello for 1999 and Verstappen was left casting around for a drive again.

However, for once it looked like things were going in the right direction for Verstappen. Near the end of 1998 he became the test driver for the Honda Formula One project. He teamed up with old Tyrrell friends Rupert Manwaring and Harvey Postlethwaite, planning to test the new car in 1999 and join the series in 2000. All went well for the operation, with the testing hack showing well against upper-midfield teams such as Benetton and Williams in various test sessions until Postlethwaite died of a heart attack. Not long after, Honda changed their plans from becoming a fully factory team to just an engine supplier and Verstappen was again without a Formula One seat.

He tested for the Jordan team in case Damon Hill decided to retire before the end of the season but this came to nothing when Verstappen’s testing performance was underwhelming and Hill resolved to see out the season.

In 2000 he returned to Arrows, who had put together an impressive package including Supertec engines, a neat chassis with good straight-line speed and a bevy of sponsors (Dutch communications company Orange playing a part in Verstappen landing the seat). The car proved to be unreliable but its speed allowed Verstappen and team-mate Pedro de la Rosa to dice with the front runners at several circuits (albeit partly due to the design’s small fuel tank meaning the cars were often lighter than their rivals). In his second race back at Interlagos he ran 6th before spinning due to a sore neck brought on by his lack of recent seat time. In the wet/dry Canadian Grand Prix (wearing an orange helmet in honour of his national football team’s participation at Euro 2000) he drove superbly in the later stages to move into a strong 5th position and score his first points since 1996. After the first corner accidents in Austria de la Rosa and Verstappen ran 4th and 5th but mechanical problems sidelined them both. Verstappen would score only once again, a strong 4th place at Monza.

For 2001 he was retained by Arrows. The Supertec engines were replaced by Asiatech units and de la Rosa was dropped on the eve of the season in favour of the Red Bull-backed Enrique Bernoldi. The package was more reliable but less competitive and Verstappen was hurt on occasion by indifferent qualifying form (often lining up behind his rookie team-mate on the grid). Highlights of the season included running 2nd at Sepang having started 18th, making a superb start and running well in changing conditions before dropping to 7th and later scoring the team’s only point of the year for 6th at the A1-Ring. Less impressive were his performances at Interlagos, where he ran into the back of leader Juan Pablo Montoya just after being lapped and Montreal where he moved into the top 6 but asked too much of his brakes and crashed out on a day when points were possible.

Nevertheless he had re-signed to drive for Arrows in 2002 only to be dropped at the eleventh hour in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Later that year he almost signed a test contract with Sauber but he turned out to be physically too large for the car, which was smaller than its predecessor.

He returned to the cockpit in 2003 with Paul Stoddart’s European Minardi team, considered the tail enders of the grid. With limited funds and underpowered engines it was a difficult season with little opportunity to shine. His best result was 9th at the Canadian Grand Prix, one place away from a point under the new scoring system. At the Brazilian Grand Prix he had been running ahead of eventual winner Giancarlo Fisichella on the same strategy only to spin off on standing water, but generally the year was one to forget – and many noted that Verstappen was largely outperformed by rookie team-mate Justin Wilson. At the end of the year he left the Italian team because he did not feel like driving in the rear-guard for another year.

Out of a drive for 2004 Verstappen was considered as a replacement for Giorgio Pantano at Jordan partway through the season but was unable to fit in the car and began looking for drives outside Formula One for the following season.

Verstappen participated in 107 Grands Prix. He achieved two podium places, and scored a total of 17 championship points which makes him the best performing Dutch race driver in Formula One to date. His highest qualifying position was 6th, at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was married to the Belgian ex-kart driver Sophie Kumpen, with whom he has two children: Max (b. 1997) and Victoria (b.1999). Max is currently competing in the Formula 3 Euro Series, and will drive for the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team in 2015.

More information on verstappen.nl

Overview Dutch Formula One drivers:

Jan Flinterman (1952)
Dries van der Lof (1952)
Carel Godin de Beaufort (1957 – 1964)
Ben Pon (1962)
Rob Slotemaker* (1962)
Gijs van Lennep (1971 – 1975)
Roelof Wunderink (1975)
Boy Hayje (1976 – 1977)
Michael Bleekemolen (1977 – 1978)
Jan Lammers (1979 – 1992)
Huub Rothengatter (1984 – 1986)
Jos Verstappen (1994 – 2003)
Robert Doornbos (2004 – 2006)
Christijan Albers (2005 – 2007)
Giedo van der Garde (2008 – 2014)
Robin Frijns* (2013 – 2014)
Max Verstappen (2014 – …)
Nyck de Vries (2022 – …)