Two years ago today: Verstappen wins his first race on Red Bull debut!

Exactly two years ago, on May fifteenth 2016, Max Verstappen shocked the F1-world by winning his first ever Grand Prix on his debut for Red Bull Racing in Spain.

Verstappen was already dubbed the next big thing in F1, but nobody thought that he would be winning a race this early in his career. Verstappen had made the step up to Red Bull from Toro Rosso after spending just over a year on the development team alongside Carlos Sainz Jr. Verstappen switched places with Daniil Kvyat, who wasn’t cutting the mustard at Red Bull and was sent back to Toro Rosso.

Verstappen had no problems with adjustment to his new team as he immediately beat Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying and started fourth. Mercedes had a one-two with Rosberg and Hamilton, as they often did in 2016.

The Mercedes cars took each other out in the race, however, which gave Verstappen the golden opportunity to take first place. He was closely followed by Ricciardo. Verstappen came in for a new set of mediums after 35 laps, and came out, still virtually in the lead, but this time with Kimi Raikkonen on his heels. Raikkonen made move after move on the teenager, but he defended like his life depended on it and somehow managed to keep the Ice Man at bay.

Verstappen finished first, causing Dutch commentator Olaf Mol to cry on live television as he thought he’d never see the day a Dutch driver would win a race. Verstappen became the youngest ever winner of a race, as well as the first ever Dutch driver to win a race, his father Jos Verstappen only being able to finish on the podium twice.

What a day that was!