Max Verstappen drove for Franz Tost’s team in 2015, his rookie season of F1 raing with Toro Rosso.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (Via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen has established himself as Red Bull’s most successful Formula 1 driver, surpassing former Red Bull quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel’s win tally with the team. Verstappen’s stint with Red Bull has earned him over 50 wins, placing him third in the all-time list for wins.
Verstappen was mentored in his rookie season by the then-Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost. Tost, who retired from AlphaTauri post the 2023 season, claimed Verstappen would never be outperformed by his teammate, saying the Dutchman has not yet reached his limit.
If Max continues to have a good car, he will win many more races and titles. He is not at his limit yet and will still improve. No driver who is or will be his teammate will ever be able to surpass the role of driver number 2.Franz Tost said, as reported by FormulaPassion.it
Verstappen has lost to a teammate on only one occasion, beating his counterpart in every other year. In 2017, the 20-year-old was outperformed by Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull in just his third year competing in Formula 1, albeit beating the Australian the very next year.
Max Verstappen sponsor abruptly cuts ties with the Dutchman
Max Verstappen is a sporting icon of the Netherlands, and possibly one of the most well-known athletes from the country. Naturally, the 26-year-old is riddled with sponsorships, and a major one from his country is Jumbo.
Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Jumbo is a famous supermarket chain in the Netherlands, and had long-standing ties with Verstappen. However, after the CEO Frits Van Eerd stepped down in 2022 regarding money laundering charges, his replacement Tom van Veen cut ties with Verstappen.
When asked why, van Veen reasoned that on a global basis, having an international star like Verstappen promote the band would not be entirely helpful for a more localized business like Jumbo.
You have to ask yourself if that suits us. Max Verstappen is a World Champion. But we are a Dutch supermarket company, not even the biggest. On the world stage, we don’t have much business.Tom van Veen said as reported by crash.net
Verstappen retains multiple major names who have the triple World Champion as a public endorser. These include gaming tycoon EA Sports, international alcohol brand Heineken, and Viaplay.
