The Milton Keynes-based team wanted to mark the arrival of the Dutch driver, which took place in May 2016.
From 2016 to today
For many of us, time seems to pass incredibly quickly, to the point where we do not even realise that certain events happened so many years ago.
This applies not only to everyday life but also to our sporting passions.
Who, for example, could have imagined that it has already been ten years since Max Verstappen made his debut with Red Bull?
It was the Milton Keynes team itself that reminded fans of this milestone, posting on its social channels a photo of a very young Verstappen, then 18 years old, alongside a more recent image of the driver who, over the past decade, has written a major chapter in Red Bull’s history.
A story of success
Signed by the Anglo-Austrian team in early May 2016, Max Verstappen was promoted from Toro Rosso — where he had made his Formula 1 debut as a teenager — to Red Bull, replacing Daniil Kvyat, who returned to Faenza after a series of underwhelming results.
His first Grand Prix with the new team was in Spain, and it immediately became a historic debut.
Thanks also to the collision between the Mercedes cars of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the start — the dominant drivers of that season — Verstappen went on to claim his first Formula 1 victory.
In doing so, he also set a record that still stands today: the youngest driver ever to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
From the following season until 2020, Max Verstappen added nine more victories and multiple podium finishes, also taking his first pole position in Hungary in 2019.
However, the true championship-winning era of his Red Bull career began the following year.
With ten race victories — the last of which came in highly controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi — the Dutchman secured his first world championship title, ending the Mercedes dominance that had lasted since 2014.
In doing so, Verstappen also became the first Red Bull driver to achieve this feat since Sebastian Vettel, who had won all four of his world championships with the team.
From that breakthrough in 2021 onwards, Max Verstappen remained at the top of Formula 1 for the next three seasons as well, equalling Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost on four world titles.
Last season, he finished as vice-world champion after a season-long battle with Lando Norris, during which rumours also emerged about a possible move to Mercedes.
However, the 2026 season has started in a much more difficult way.
The new technical regulations have been heavily criticised, and so far Verstappen has not yet scored a podium finish.
It remains to be seen whether ten years together with Red Bull can provide the motivation needed to return to winning ways with the team that brought him to the very top of Formula 1.
Leave a Reply