Eurosport's Future Stars for 2016: Max Verstappen

Nominated by Eurosport F1 commentator João Carlos Costa, who said: “The son of ex-F1 driver Jos Verstappen, the young Belgian-born Dutchman is fast, fearless, big hearted and big mouthed: a breath of fresh air in the ‘overly-purified’ world of Formula One.

“His natural speed and hunger for success are both reminiscent of Ayrton Senna and, combined with the nonchalance and wry smile of Nelson Piquet, they make him pure danger for the competition. He challenges even the biggest names in F1 with his late braking and amazing overtaking capability, finding space where other drivers can’t.

“At the age of 17 years and 166 days, Verstappen began his F1 career as the Championship’s all-time youngest driver, despite only having 47 races in a Formula car under his belt and no driving licence to his name. His lack of experience, however, was solved by bringing his young, aggressive ‘karting and Playstation’ style of driving to Grand Prix racing and was the reason for his exciting, successful rookie season.

“All this means that, as long as he has the right engine, I believe the 2016 F1 season will give him his first career podium finish and a place in the top 10 of the final standings. Then, if the team and car are in his favour, I see him as the 2017 World Champion at the age of 20, breaking even more records and attracting a new generation of fans to F1.

“Verstappen is not the next big thing – he’s already here. He is F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s biggest commodity right now, the catalyst for the new generation of fans and drivers and has everything it takes to transform Formula One into Circus MAXimus for more than a decade.”