“Titan” Max Verstappen Named in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People

Max Verstappen, the pride of the Netherlands, is the country’s only F1 racer to have won a race. But he didn’t stop at 1 race, he replicated that success a total of 57 times, winning 3 F1 World Championships in the process. The Red Bull driver is predicted to make it 58 at the upcoming Chinese GP and win his 4th consecutive championship by 2024 end. There was no way TIME could have omitted him from the World’s Top 100 Most Influential People of 2024.

In 2020, Lewis Hamilton, after winning his 7th World Championship, was named on the TIME 100 list. Who knew that a 24-year-old Verstappen would overthrow him in 2021 to be F1’s newest World Champion? Then began the Dutchman’s era at the pinnacle of motorsport. The next year, Ferrari was his only challenge. But he claimed 2022 as well. But then came the period of utter and complete dominance.

In 2023, Red Bull perfected their car to produce the mighty RB19. Exploiting the maximum from it, Verstappen won 19 out of 22 races by margins never seen before, knocking off years-long F1 records with ease. Even Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher had never managed this. TIME has honored this incredible accomplishment by naming him in the Top 100 Most Influential People of 2024 under the category – “Titan”.

The only other sportspersons to be honored in the category are Super Bowl Winner Patrick Mahomes and 2-time WNBA champ A’ja Wilson. For Verstappen, this isn’t his first time lining up against global sporting superstars.

Max Verstappen’s heroics leave Novak Djokovic and Tom Brady in the dust

In 2021, Max Verstappen wrote history by becoming the 1st Dutch driver to become an F1 World Champion. He defeated a 7-time champion in Lewis Hamilton to never look back again. For this feat, Laureus nominated him for the Sportsman of the Year award in 2022.

In his very 1st year in the category, he took the top honor by beating the likes of Tennis Legend Novak Djokovic, NFL Legend Tom Brady, Soccer star Robert Lewandowski, American Swimmer Caeleb Dressel, and Kenyan athlete Eluid Kipchoge.

With that win, Verstappen became only the 3rd F1 driver to win this award after Michael Schumacher (2-time winner) and Lewis Hamilton. This TIME 100 glory might just be the beginning of what more is to come for the Dutchman.