New Book Review: Max Verstappen by Ewan McKenzie

Going into the Brazilian GP, Max Verstappen was definitely under the pump with recent Lando and Ferrari wins eroding his world championship lead. 71 laps latter, his mastery of chaotic weather conditions and supreme race craft was fully on display which all but dispelled the doubters. Ewan McKenzie has authored a new Max Verstappen biography “Max Verstappen: The Unstoppable Force in Formula One”.

There are several Max biographies that have been published, including “Unstoppable” by Mark Hughes and “Max Verstappen Born to Race” by James Gray, which I’ve posted reviews. Ewan McKenzie’s biography is a 240 page hardcover which covers Max as a kid right up to the end of the 2023 F1 season. 

Where “Unstoppable” and “Born to Race” are traditional text heavy paperbacks with limited photos, McKenzie’s new book is much more rounded with colour photos or infographics on every 2nd page. Max’s early karting career gets brief coverage in some of the other books but the first few chapters in this book details several of Max’s karting and early Formula races and his duels with the young Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, Nyck DeVries and Esteban Ocon that would renewed years later in F1. 

Chapters 3 & 4 cover his rookie and 2nd season with Toro Rosso with Carlos as his teammate. Chapters 5 & 6 trace his move up to the senior Red Bull team racing alongside Danny Ric, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez and his eventual epic battles wth Lewis during the 2021 season. Chapter 7 is an interesting one that focuses on family members, Kelly Piquet, his manager Raymond Vermeulen and even a special section on his relationship with his famous race engineer Gianpiero ‘GP’ Lambaise.

The final chapters cover his back to back championships in 2022 and 2023 with a look at the future and his Team Verstappen Racing alongside his father Jos.

These chapters are all supplemented by great racing photos mostly from Getty Images. What is somewhat unique about this book is the various infographics of Max’s statistics including his head to head record against teammates, youngest driver records, wins per season and winning tracks.

Wow Factor/Money shot: Lots of photos on-track and off (including early karting); Neat infographics of Max’s stats

Suitable for: Max fans