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Max Verstappen is Formula 1 world champion.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton (r.) Is tied for the final race in Abu Dhabi. In a real thriller, Verstappen prevails with an overtaking maneuver on the last lap.
Photo: Hassan Ammar / AP
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When he leaves his racing car, Verstappen wants to be alone for a moment.
Extreme pressure had built up over the course of the season, and the Dutchman was determined to win this title - his first in Formula 1.
Photo: Charles Coates / imago images / Motorsport Images
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All Formula 1 experts agreed early on:
Max Verstappen is an exceptional talent
and will eventually become world champion.
Now he is after two third places in the preseason at the age of 24.
The youngest world champion in F1 history remains Sebastian Vettel for the time being.
Photo:
Dan Istitene / Formula 1 / Getty Images
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Always at his side: Father Jos Verstappen, himself a Formula 1 driver for many years. Michael Schumacher's former team-mate competed in 107 races in the premier class of motorsport, but never made it to the top of the podium.
Son Max is now at 141 races.
Photo:
imago images / HochZwei
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Max Verstappen was introduced to motorsport at an early age by his father.
Anyone who wants to be successful in Formula 1 usually starts with karting.
In 2005 he started racing regularly, until 2013 he rushed from victory to victory in various series.
Photo:
imago sportphotodienst / IMAGO
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Up to Formula 3, Verstappen's career has been streamlined.
For Van Amersfoort, he took ten straight wins in his debut 2014 season.
But the junior series are quickly too small for Verstappen.
Without ever having contested a race in Formula 2, his path leads straight to Formula 1.
Photo:
Pakusch / IMAGO
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Since then, his career has been dominated by the bull.
In 2014 he was accepted into the Red Bull youth program.
Shortly before his 17th birthday, he received the super license for Formula 1, a year later he only passed the driving test for road traffic.
Photo:
Manu Fernandez / AP
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Youthful appearance: When Verstappen made his debut in 2015 for Toro Rosso, the smaller Red Bull version in Formula 1, some colleagues secretly smiled at him.
Photo:
HochZwei / IMAGO
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But in the second race of the season in Malaysia, Verstappen took his first championship points in seventh place.
Photo:
LAT Photographic / IMAGO
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One year later, Toro Rosso is over again, because the mediocre results of Daniil Kvyat prompt the Red Bull makers to swap drivers early.
In Barcelona, the fifth race of the season, Verstappen changes the cockpit -
and wins his first race right in
front of the two Ferrari drivers Kimi Räikkönen (left) and Vettel.
Photo:
Manu Fernandez / AP
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Max Verstappen's early career phase does not only include impressive achievements and outstanding results.
The Dutchman goes too far several times, misjudges tight racing situations and provokes accidents - as here in Spa-Francorchamps in 2016 in the start-up collision with Vettel and Räikkönen.
Photo:
RUBIO / Motorsport Images / IMAGO
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The champions show themselves in the rain:
At the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, the drivers are pushed to their limits, Verstappen loves the wet challenge and races to third place.
Photo:
Eibner / IMAGO
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For three years, Verstappen rode alongside team-mate Daniel Ricciardo (r.).
The Australian was able to leave him behind in the first two seasons, and in 2018 he was ahead of Ricciardo for the first time in the World Cup.
Photo:
imago sports photo service / imago / Marca
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But there are ups and downs. Verstappen is repeatedly involved in accidents, like here in Singapore in 2017.
Photo: HochZwei / IMAGO
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Verstappen is a hot spur.
In Brazil 2018 he collides with Esteban Ocon.
This time, Verstappen - also in the opinion of the race stewards - is innocent.
Ocon receives a penalty, but the Red Bull driver can hardly be stopped.
After being insulted on the pit radio, Verstappen attacked Ocon after the race and was subsequently punished by the Fia.
Photo:
HochZwei / IMAGO
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Oranje boven:
Max Verstappen takes on the role in the Netherlands that Michael Schumacher played in Germany in the 1990s.
He raises motorsport and especially Formula 1 in the public interest, Verstappen fans flock to the racetracks of the world for years.
Photo: Charles Coates / imago images / Motorsport Images
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In 2019, Verstappen seems ready for the title fight in Formula 1. But his racing car cannot yet keep up with the dominant Mercedes.
It was not until the ninth race of the season in Austria that Verstappen achieved his first victory.
Team boss Christian Horner (center) sometimes despairs with the Honda engine, which is only competitive under certain conditions.
At the end of the season, Verstappen finished third after three wins.
Photo:
Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images / IMAGO
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Little by little, the world championship turns
into a duel between Lewis Hamilton (left) and Verstappen.
Photo:
Hasan Bratic / picture alliance / dpa
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Verstappen also manages to bring Formula 1 back to the Netherlands.
36 years after the last event, the sport is returning to Zandvoort.
And Verstappen wins in front of his fans.
Photo:
Charles Coates / imago images / Motorsport Images
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The battle for the world championship comes to a head as the season progresses.
In Silverstone, at Hamilton's home race, the two opponents clash.
Verstappen crashes into a pile of tires, drops out and has to go to hospital for a short time.
Hamilton's exuberant cheers show how tense the situation is.
Photo: Bradley Collyer / dpa
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The next accident follows in Italy, this time Hamilton and Verstappen are eliminated together.
The Halo cockpit protection secured Hamilton from the falling Red Bull.
Photo: Luca Bruno / picture alliance / dpa / AP
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Before the race in Brazil, the way seems to be paved for Verstappen's first world title.
But Hamilton is back on the road to success, thanks in part to a new Mercedes engine, and wins two races in a row.
Before the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, Verstappen's lead melts to eight points.
Photo: CARL DE SOUZA / AFP
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In Jeddah, too, the two rivals fail to avoid a collision: Verstappen should leave the position to Hamilton, the Red Bull driver brakes, Hamilton drives him into the rear - and wins.
Both go into the final with the same number of points, the last time that was in 1974.
Photo:
Lars Baron / Getty Images
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In the days of Abu Dhabi, Verstappen wanted to give a relaxed impression despite the tension.
With the pole position he sets the first exclamation mark, but in the race Hamilton looks like the winner for a long time.
Photo: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
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A safety car phase in the final laps brings Verstappen back into the title race.
With fresher tires, he overtook his rival on the last lap - and then got his team boss Horner wet.
The subsequent Mercedes protest against the ranking of the race left Verstappen and Red Bull shaking for hours -
but he remained world champion.
Photo: Lars Baron / Getty Images
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Even in Abu Dhabi, there were thousands of Verstappen fans on the track: Formula 1 is orange.
Photo:
via www.imago-images.de / imago images / ANP