16-year-old, Max Verstappen to become youngest Formula One driver

Milan Sixteenyearold Max Verstappen will become the youngest driver in Formula One history next season after being unveiled as Toro Rossos new signing The Dutch teenager son of exF1 driver Jos Verstappen currently races in Formula Three with the Van Amersfoort Racing team having cut his racing teeth on the karting circuitMax VerstappenHe will partner Russian Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull feeder team with 24yearold Frenchman JeanEric Vergne deemed surplus to requirements Ever since I was seven years old Formula One has been my career goal so this opportunity is truly a dream come trueVerstappen said on the teams website Verstappen who turns 17 next month will beat by almost two years the age record currently held by Spains Jaime Alguersuari who was 19 years and 125 days when he made his debut at the Hungarian GP in 2009 also for Toro Rosso He won the world gokarting championship last year and has topped the podium in eight out of 27 races since graduating to the highly competitive Formula Three ChampionshipWeve all worked tremendously hard to reach Formula One and I will give my absolute best to be successful in the pinnacle of motorsport Verstappen said thanking his father for his support With the return of the Verstappen name to Formula One I hope we can relive old memories and Im hoping to see many fans at all the Grand Prix circuits Verstappen played down the step up to Formula One saying that he thought he had already made the hardest transitionI think the biggest step I had was karting to F3 I think F3 to F1 will be a smaller step the teenager told BBC Radio 5 live Im not that worried about it The cars are really safe I think its more dangerous to bike through a big city than race in an F1 carVerstappen is following the path of fourtime world champion Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo who were also members of the Red Bull Junior Team Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said that despite his youth Verstappens skill levels and maturity indicated he could cut it in Formula OneWe consider Max to be one of the most skilled young drivers of the new generation and we believe he has the necessary maturity and mental strength to take on this challenge successfully he said We are happy to welcome Max into the Toro Rosso family Its great to see how the Red Bull Junior Programme continues to find talented young drivers and gives them the opportunity to come into Formula 1Verstappen also received praise from current Formula Three team boss Frits van Amersfoort Max is an exceptional talent and its great news that Red Bull wants him so dearly Van Amersfoort said Genetically he is built up right and his preparations are always more than sufficient His records in karting were outrageous and in single seaters he has possibly been even more impressiveThen Red Bull comes along I can only see positives here and am certain that he is looking at a beautiful future Verstappens Russian teammate Kvyat became the youngest driver to earn a championship point at the age of 19 when he finished ninth in this seasons opening race in Australia in MarchCome next seasons Australian Grand Prix Verstappen will be 17 years and 164 days of age and hopefully in control of a competitive car in place of Vergne who has amassed 11 points for Toro Rosso this season after making his Formula One debut for the team in 2012 Toro Rossos Tost added I would also like to thank JeanEric Vergne for all his hard workHe has produced strong performances but unfortunately he was also hindered by some reliability problems especially in the first half of the current season We hope that we have resolved these problems and that he will be able to end the second half of this season on a high note and thereby show that he still deserves another opportunity in Formula 1