News Digest

Up in smoke: 17-year-old Verstappen’s F1 debut ended by engine trouble

Teenager Max Verstappen became the youngest Formula One driver on Friday but his debut went up in smoke as he was forced to halt his misfiring Toro Rosso. Verstappen managed 21 laps of the Suzuka circuit before having to pull over as smoke poured the back of his vehicle. “I have a problem in the engine, it’s not pulling any more,” the Dutchman, who will replace Jean-Eric Vergne next season, radioed to his team as he hit trouble. He was 12th fastest at the time with a best lap of one minute 38.157 seconds - 0.443 seconds behind team-mate Daniil Kvyat. “I’m not focused on the age, it doesn’t matter to me,” said Verstappen.

I have smoke out of the engine. What should I do?

Max Verstappen in Suzuka this morning

It was a harsh introduction for the Dutch 17-year-old, who is the son of ex-F1 driver Jos. Verstappen turned 17 on Tuesday and is almost two years younger than the previous record-holder Jaime Alguersuari, who was 19 years and 125 days when he contested the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen has been competing in this year’s European Formula 3 season. He racked up the necessary mileage to qualify for a FIA licence in a test earlier this month. He will drive in the first practice sessions at three of the four remaining races after Japan, missing only next weekend’s event in Russia, when he has a race in the European Formula 3 series.

I was enjoying it a lot - that was the main thing. I think in the end, I did quite a good job.

Max Verstappen