It was only his 24th Formula 1 race and his first for Red Bull Racing if Max Verstappen made history and became the youngest Formula 1 winner, race leader and podium finisher at just 18 years and 227 days.
Since then, Verstappen has developed into an F1 veteran who, at the tender age of 22, started more than 100 races and repeatedly broke records.
So what better time to take a look at some of the fastest, fastest, youngest and shortest records in Formula 1? Blink and you will miss her!
Fastest pit stop – Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix
1.82 seconds. That was all it took Aston Martin Red Bull Racing to swap all four wheels of Max Verstappen’s RB15 in Interlagos last season, breaking a record the team already owned. The previous record was an almost equally impossible time of 1.88 seconds, but Aston Martin Red Bull Racing really raised the bar in Brazil and set a standard that we can imagine other teams can even compete in for years to come .
Making pit stops that are out of this world has become an Aston Martin Red Bull Racing specialty. Along with five pit stop speed records in 2019 alone, the team literally rose for a weightless pit stop and changed all four tires on a thoroughbred Red Bull Racing F1 car thousands of meters above the ground. Check out the video below:
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Fastest lap ever – Juan Pablo Montoya, 2004 Italian Grand Prix
The record: 262.242 km / h (162.950 mph)
In 2004, Formula 1 cars peaked, breaking lap records after lap records throughout the season. During qualifying at this year’s Italian Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya the fastest lap in Formula 1 history, a record that still stands today.
The Colombian lapped Monza in his Williams FW36 at an incredible average speed of 262.242 km / h (162.950 mph) in the first part of qualifying. But despite the record, Montoya couldn’t keep up with his time later in the session and qualified second for the race behind Rubens Barrichello.
Montoya drove the fastest F1 lap ever
© Mark Thompson / Getty Images
Fastest career penalty – Sebastian Vettel, Turkish Grand Prix 2006
Sebastian Vettel has broken almost every record in Formula 1, from youngest world champion to most straight wins, but there’s one record he’s not going to scream about.
In his first F1 appearance at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel drove out of the garage, raced in the pit lane and was punished just six seconds in his F1 career.
Youngest winner – Max Verstappen, Spanish Grand Prix 2016
The record: 18 years and 227 days old
Max Verstappen started breaking records when he made it into F1 with Red Bull. At 17 years and 166 days, the Dutchman became the youngest F1 driver of all time on his debut in Australia and set the record for youngest F1 scorer of all time at the next race in Malaysia.
Just 24 races in fast forward and on his debut for Red Bull Racing in Spain, Verstappen became the first F1 winner in the Netherlands, the youngest driver to lead a race, the youngest driver to take a podium and of course the youngest driver to race to win and to take the record from Sebastian Vettel, who stood on the podium with the Dutchman that day.
Narrowest gap in qualifying – European Grand Prix 1997
The record: 0.000 seconds between the first and third
The title final of the 1997 F1 season was already an exciting affair when Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve went into the final lap in Jerez with only one point apart. An extraordinary qualifying in the run-up to the race made things even more exciting.
Villeneuve set a time of 1: 21.072 seconds in qualifying to secure the provisional pole position, then minutes later Schumacher set an identical time. Even more incredible was that Villenueve’s teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen then crossed the line to post at exactly the same time as the two title contenders. Three cars, three identical times, measured to a thousandth of a second.
Fastest Race – 2003 Italian Grand Prix
The record: average speed of 153.842 mph (247.585 km / h)
No wonder that the fastest Formula 1 race of all time was held in Monza. The 2003 Italian Grand Prix was won by Michael sSchumacher, with an average speed of 153.842 mph (247.585 km / h) in just 1 hour 14 minutes and 19.838 seconds, which also makes it the shortest F1 race of all time that was not affected by red flags.
Michael Schumacher wins the fastest F1 race of all time
© Ferrari
Top Speed - Juan Pablo Montoya, 2005 Italian Grand Prix
The record: 372.6 km / h (231.523 mph)
A year after the fastest Formula 1 lap ever, Juan Pablo Montoya returned to Monza to set another all-time record during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, reaching a top speed of 372.6 km / h (231.523 mph), the fastest ever recorded in Formula 1.
Smallest profit margin – 1971 Italian Grand Prix
The record: Top 3 separated by 0.09 seconds
There have been some incredible results in Formula 1, but nothing compares to the goal of the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, which saw five cars cross the finish line in the slipstream.
Peter Gethin took off the victory Ronnie Peterson by just 0.01 seconds while Francois Cevert was only 0.09 seconds away from victory. Mike Hailwood was 0.18 seconds back in fourth and Howden Ganley, who was just 0.61 seconds behind, made it to the closest top 5 result in history.
The aim of the 1971 Italian Grand Prix
© Popperfoto
Shortest career – Marco Apicella, 1993 Italian Grand Prix
The record: 800 meters (2,600 feet)
Many Formula 1 drivers have only participated in a single Grand Prix, but none was shorter than Marco Apicellas only Formula 1 appearance at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix.
The Italian driver impressed Eddie Jordan enough to give him a one-off ride in his home race for the Jordan team, but after a collision with several cars in the first corner on the very first lap, Apicella’s F1 career was over in a matter of seconds.
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Max Verstappen
Born to be fast, the son of the former Formula 1 …
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