In 2015, he’ll still be in a junior team… but the junior team at the highest level of motorsport.
The young Dutchman, who’ll only turn 17 in September, will join Scuderia Toro Rosso on the 2015 Formula One grid. His teammate? Relative graybeard Daniil Kvyat, who’s 20, and will be entering his second season on the grid.
Verstappen will become the youngest driver in Formula One history when he takes the grid next season, by more than a year. Jaime Alguersuari was 19 years, 125 days old when he debuted at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, replacing Sebastien Bourdais at Toro Rosso.
“Ever since I was seven years old, Formula 1 has been my career goal, so this opportunity is truly a dream come true,” Verstappen said in a release, via Red Bull.
Father Jos Verstappen competed in F1 from 1994 to 2003, with the Benetton, Simtek, Footwork, Arrows, Tyrrell, Stewart and Minardi squads.
The announcement leaves Jean-Eric Vergne a free agent, and he’ll have the final eight Grands Prix of 2014 to prove his worth or join the Toro Rosso ex-F1 alumni club that includes Sebastien Buemi, Alguersuari, Bourdais, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed.
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
