2016: Propelled to the top at Red Bull
Season: 21 races, 1 wins, 0 poles, 1 fastest laps, 7 podiums
Drivers championship: 5th place, 204 points
The evenly-matched Verstappen and Sainz were back at Toro Rosso for the start of a second season, but everything was turned on its head a month later when Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat fell out of favour at the senior team after a messy home Grand Prix in Russia. By now Marko and Christian Horner had already decided that Verstappen was the star of the future they had been looking for to take over the mantle of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who had since moved to Ferrari.
They duly switched the two drivers around and gave Max the chance to show what he could do in a top class car alongside the established Daniel Ricciardo. Many in the paddock feared that this was too much pressure too soon for the youngster, and that he wouldn't be up to the challenge. Those of us who said that soon had egg on our face when his first outing for the team in Spain culminated in a maiden victory, making him the youngest winner in the history of the sport at the age of 18 years and 228 days.
Far from wilting under the pressure, Verstappen was clearly thriving. By the end of the season no one had any doubts that he belonged in one of the top seats on the grid with Red Bull, although some were still not happy: Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen declared that Max "was going to cause a huge accident sooner or later" after the pair clashed in Belgium, while FIA race director Charlie Whiting called him in for a gentle warning because of his aggressive driving. But his own boss was delighted, Horner declaring his drive in Brazil to be "One of the best drives I've seen in Formula 1!" The debate about Verstappen's unashamedly hard-nosed driving had begun, and we'll let you know whenever it finally ends.
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