by Lorenzo Nicolao
The paradoxical tale of three-time world champion Max Verstappen. In 2015 he debuted in F1 as a minor, before the reform of the FIA regulations
Being a Formula 1 phenomenon may not be enough to secure the most common driving license. The three-time world champion Max Verstappen, who with Red Bull at 26 years old has already collected 54 victories, 98 podiums and 32 pole positions, told the Sunday Times the most incredible of anecdotes. In 2015, at just 18 years old, he risked failing the driving test in a common Renault Clio. Nothing comparable to the single-seater in which the young talent competed with 14 races under his belt, but the test sensationally represented more than a difficulty for him. Avoiding what would have been a more than embarrassing figure – as he himself defined it – was a magnanimous examiner, willing to turn a blind eye to a couple of gross mistakes.
Verstappen’s driving license errors
Verstappen, during the interview given to the British newspaper, revealed all the details of that day: In one case I turned left, when the examiner had asked me to go right. In the other, I had not given precedence to pedestrians at an intersection – said the Dutchman -. I didn’t agree and immediately afterwards I argued with him, because in my opinion those people still had to go a few meters before reaching the edge of the road to cross. So, in my opinion, I didn’t have to stop. Despite everything, although I was very unhappy with my test, he pardoned me, saving me from failing. If I think about it, it went really well. Another examiner might have failed me. Word of someone who, when he took this exam, was already a champion of go-karts and had had no problems making his debut in the premier class as a promising youngster aboard Toro Rosso.
The debut in Formula 1 without a license
Verstappen was driving in F1 at 17 and without a driving licence. An exceptional case, since the following year the international federation decided to reform the regulation. A precocious talent like the three-time world champion could not make his debut in Formula 1 today, because in 2016 the FIA set the minimum age of a driver in the top category at 18 years: When he gets used to the circuit, the very high speeds and the where priorities, pedestrians or other subjects on the road are not considered, other than one’s adversaries, adapting to a car and normal driving is in itself a challenge that is anything but simple. No embarrassment at the time however, complete with a tweet that he published that day to celebrate the moment (without recounting the details of the exam he had just passed): I was born to race, posting a photo aboard the infamous Renault. Now I can finally go wherever I want on my own, all I have to do is get into a Clio. I feel an incredible feeling of freedom.
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January 25, 2024 (modified January 25, 2024 | 8:06 pm)
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