Max Verstappen celebrates his 24th birthday today. The Dutchman has been active in Formula 1 since he was 17 years old, and in that time he has already scored 17 victories. As a tribute to the birthday boy, we take a look back at all the moments that Verstappen stood on the highest spot of the podium. The first part of this series can be found here. In this article we look at the races Verstappen won in 2021.

Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna

Actually Verstappen should have taken his eleventh victory during the opening race in Bahrain, where the RB16B was clearly the faster car compared to the Mercedes. However, after an illegal overtaking manoeuvre on Hamilton, Max had to leave the place to the Brit. In the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Max was again in for a treat, especially after a somewhat disappointing qualifying session, the first and so far only time that new team mate Sergio Perez was faster than him. On a wet track, Verstappen immediately took on his titular rival Hamilton, and never relinquished the lead. Hamilton spun later in the race, but was lucky enough to finish second.

Monaco Grand Prix

As a resident of the principality, Verstappen's runs will have taken him past places where he has previously crashed his Red Bull car into the wall. The narrow street circuit never really seemed to suit Verstappen, but in 2021 he broke the curse. Charles Leclerc took pole on Saturday and drove his car into the wall immediately afterwards, allowing the Monegas to start from pole in his home race. However, the engine was so badly damaged that a start was not possible, so the Dutchman started from pole and finished first in Monaco. A nice powerslide into the final corner showed just how much confidence Verstappen had, while Hamilton finished a disappointing seventh. When the Dutchman tasted the champagne on the podium, the Mercedes garage was still trying to get the tyre off Bottas' car.

French Grand Prix

Without a doubt one of the most nerve wrecking races of 2021. At the Paul Ricard circuit, which seems to be made for the Mercedes, Verstappen had a strong showing. After a daring second pit stop that set him back a little, Red Bull Racing 's call seemed to be the right one, and Verstappen was able to get closer and closer to Lewis Hamilton at a rapid pace. Bottas cursed and ranted at his team: why hadn't Mercedes thought of a two-stop? The Finn was proved right, because neither he nor Hamilton were able to put up a fight in the end, and so the Dutchman pulled off a hard-fought victory on a circuit which Mercedes briefly thought they were going to win.

Grand Prix of Styria

Due to all the corona issues, we had two consecutive races in Austria, just like in 2020. The first race of the two was called the Styrian Grand Prix. Verstappen showed once again that he is strong on his team's home circuit. The Dutchman drove the entire race at the front and left a heavily complaining Lewis Hamilton 30 seconds behind him. To underline his confidence, Verstappen slowed down to party with his pit wall, which almost earned him a penalty. A second consecutive victory for Verstappen, and with another race in Austria to come, could he be in for three in a row?

Austrian Grand Prix

And so he did. Verstappen took his fifth win of the season, and the first hat trick of his career, at the Austrian Grand Prix. At this point, there didn't seem to be a problem in the championship for Verstappen. The fact that he also managed to set the fastest lap means that the Dutchman is 14 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton, and has a 42 point total lead over his rival in the standings. Verstappen can therefore drop out once without giving up his first place. He too could not have foreseen what would happen in the following races.

Belgian Grand Prix

Verstappen never won a Grand Prix as easily as the race at Spa-Francorchamps. No, this was not because he disappeared on the horizon and crossed the finish line a minute ahead. No, it wasn't because all his closest rivals crashed out. The race was cancelled due to bad weather, so the result of Saturday's qualifying session also counted as the result of the race. Only half the points were awarded, however, and Verstappen was unable to close the gap to Hamilton, who had moved back up the standings after the famous Mercedes crashes at Silverstone and the Hungaroring.

Grand Prix of Zandvoort

The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort was not only a memorable day for Dutch motorsport, but also the first time in living memory that a sporting event attracted such a large crowd. After all the corona suffering in recent years the Netherlands was ready for a party, and that was exactly what Verstappen gave the Netherlands. Many shoulders would have caved under the immense pressure, but Verstappen didn't budge, and drove to victory in a festive race weekend in which Zandvoort put itself on the map. Bottas, who set the fastest lap in the closing stages of the race, will have taken some of the pressure off. As a result, Hamilton had to go in for a set of new tyres, allowing Verstappen to finish the race without any pressure.