Verstappen “the giant”: he is in the Time list of the 100 most influential people in the world

At just 26 years old he has won three consecutive F1 World Championships and is the big favorite to do it again. Every Sunday Max Verstappen breaks record after record, outnumbering some of the greatest champions in racing history. As if sporting records weren’t enough, Red Bull was the home superstar included in the prestigious list of the 100 most influential people in the worlddrawn up every year by the famous magazine Time: the only car driver, the Dutchman is one of only four athletes included in the 2024 ranking. Before him, only two other great motorsport protagonists had managed to figure among the 100 most influential personalities in the world.

VERSTAPEN “GIANT”

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It is yet another recognition of a career that began in 2015 with Toro Rosso and then continued starting from the 2016 Spanish GP in Red Bull. An increasingly rapid rise, especially since, in 2021, Verstappen managed to beat his rival at the end of a memorable duel until the last corner Lewis Hamilton. Perhaps this is also why Max’s name appears in the “Giants” category, together with the NFL star, Patrick Mahomes, and the basketball player A’ja Wilson. The only other sports-related figure to appear in the 2024 Time100 is Jenni Hermoso, champion footballer with Spain at last year’s Women’s World Cup, included among the “Icons”. The list also has a section dedicated to “Artists” and “Leaders” (where the prime minister appears Giorgia Meloni) and to the “Innovators” who have distinguished themselves in the field of technology.

LIKE SCHUMI AND LEWIS

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Returning to Formula 1, Verstappen is the third driver in history to be included in the Time100. Before Max, only Michael Schumacher (in 2005) and Lewis Hamilton (in 2020) had been cited among the 100 most influential personalities in the world. The Dutch champion “is so confident behind the wheel – explains the American magazine, justifying his choice – that he is able to take a look at the big screens around the circuit to watch the battles of the drivers behind him. In the last 12 months he has won in Miami, Monte Carlo and Abu Dhabi, but also in Japan, Qatar, Austria, Hungary and many other circuits. No athlete has won more than him in so many different places around the world. Formula 1 is asking itself a single question: will anyone be able to stop it?”.

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SPEAK MAX

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Meanwhile, the reigning champion is preparing for the fifth round of the 2024 season, the Chinese GP taking place in Shanghai: “With the Sprint weekend – Max told Sky Sports – there are always a few question marks and a bit more chaos, which can be positive in some ways for F1. From my point of view, at the moment we don’t have much certainty because we have never driven on this circuit with the new cars. I really don’t know what our performance will be, but I’m not too worried. Ferraris? So far they have been very close to us in most of the races. We have to express ourselves at our best to be able to win, I really believe they will be closer than they were last year. This obviously makes things a little more difficult for us.”