Max Verstappen has been listed on Time Magazine’s 2024 Time 100 list, which recognizes the 100 most influential individuals in the world annually.
Three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen has been listed in 2024 Time 100 list which is an exclusive selection of the magazine’s most influential individuals worldwide including prominent political leaders, thought leaders, and others.
With his notable status in Formula 1 stemming from three consecutive world titles and a record-breaking campaign in 2023, Verstappen’s nomination is not surprising.
Verstappen has dominated F1 since taking home his maiden drivers’ title in 2021 with his two subsequent titles having been easier to win although the race against Hamilton that season was intense.
Verstappen has won 37 out of 48 grand prix since the new ground-effect era regulations went into effect at the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season. He secured a record-breaking 10 race wins in a row last year, sweeping 19 out of 22 grand prix.
At 26-years-old, the Dutchman is one of the youngest people named to the 2024 edition of the Time 100 list. Other athletes who have made this year’s list include Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, rugby star Siya Kolisi – who captained South Africa to its 2023 Rugby World Cup win – and Jenni Hermoso, who won the 2023 Women’s Football World Cup with Spain.
Time’s senior sports correspondent Sean Gregory described the F1 star saying: “Verstappen is so confident behind the wheel that during at least one race he’s been able to keep an eye on the screens around the track in order to watch the battle going on behind him.”
Verstappen’s other notable F1 achievements include 36 pole positions, 57 race wins, and the unbreakable record of being the youngest driver in the history of the sport when he made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2015, just 17 years old.
Verstappen proceeded to win the Spanish Grand Prix in his very first race for Red Bull after signing with the team in 2016. He would later overcome Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to win the championship in a controversial 2021 championship showdown in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen is not the only F1 driver to appear on the Time 100 list: Michael Schumacher, a seven-time winner, was recognized in 2005, while Hamilton was featured in the American magazine’s century of influential individuals in 2020.