Max Verstappen has driven his fair share of cars across his Formula 1 career, and he even drove one of them before passing his driving test.
The Dutchman burst onto the grid in 2015 with Toro Rosso, aged just 17. At the time, many felt as though he was too young.
But he soon hushed those critics with his performances, proving almost immediately that he belonged at the highest level.
When Red Bull promoted him in 2016, the criticisms were just as loud, but winning on his debut ensured that he never had to hear anything about that again.
It took time for him to develop. Mainly, his racecraft needed to be honed, which he managed and is no longer as aggressive as he once was.
At the core, the skills he had back then are what have helped him to become a four-time champion. He’s the best driver on the planet.
Max Verstappen’s first road car cost just £20,000 to buy brand new in 2015
Immediately after turning 18, Verstappen passed his driving test on his birthday back in the Netherlands. The law there is that you cannot drive without a coach until then.
That means that he was a full-time Formula 1 driver for nine months before he was considered eligible to drive on the roads.
Now, a first car can be a tough choice for anyone to make, but given his position, Verstappen probably could have splurged if he wanted to.
Instead of doing that, his parents bought him a Renault Clio RS 200, with a retail price of around just £20,000 at the time.
Nowadays, you can pick one of those up for less than £10,000, meaning you can own and drive a car that Verstappen has for a very affordable price.
Last year, it was reported that he still has it in his collection by GPBlog, so it appears that he remains close to the car that he began driving on the roads with.
How Max Verstappen passing his driving test coincided with his best form at Toro Rosso
Verstappen passed his driving test between the 2015 Japanese and Russian Grands Prix, where he was on a purple patch of form.
He scored points in six races in a row at the end of the campaign, before failing to score at the last round in Abu Dhabi.
His best result was a fourth place in Texas, a track that, since then, he has quite literally never been classified in a race lower than fourth at.
11 years on from making his debut, that’s quite the statistic, but also shows just how talented he was at 18 years old. Some things never change.
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