Unstoppable

The Ultimate Biography of Three-Time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen

By: Mark Hughes

Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick

WATERSTONES' BEST BOOKS OF 2023: SPORT

A definitive and intriguing biography of Max Verstappen, Formula 1's superstar, Lewis Hamilton's great rival and the three-time winner of the World Drivers' Championship.

No Hollywood scriptwriter could possibly have envisioned the breathless, adrenaline-pumping climax to the 2021 Formula 1 season. On the very last lap of the final race of an unbelievably arduous and controversial season, Red Bull's Max Verstappen nervelessly overtook the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes to clinch the first place that thrust the young prodigy to the narrowest of victories and to his first World Drivers' title. He followed up by taking the 2022 and 2023 titles as well.

Verstappen may only be 26 years of age, but the Dutch motorsport sensation has an incredible record in F1: this young man has already left an indelible mark on the sport. The son of F1 driver Jos, Verstappen junior quickly stepped out of his father's shadow: his youthful charisma, ferocious speed, fearless driving style and refusal to back down mark him out as a true champion. And the phenomenal success of Netflix's Drive to Survive documentary series has elevated his worldwide popularity still further.

Widely respected motorsport writer and F1 insider Mark Hughes is perfectly placed to write the most authoritative narrative on Verstappen's incredible rise through the ranks to F1 glory. Hughes' immaculate credentials and first-rate access enable him to generate fresh and fascinating insights, and to paint a fully-rounded and richly-textured portrait of one of the most exciting young sportsmen on the planet.

©2023 Mark Hughes (P)2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Great listen

Enjoying the background on what may go down as a great champion. Narration was rock solid and pleasant listen

Insightful and fun story

Very enjoyable read. I came away learning a lot about the make up of this champion, and enjoyed the authors presentation

Insightful

Well done a great book. Great insights and interesting background information. Creates context and background as well as the chronological story.

Very good and informative

It was awesome learning more about what made Max, Max. From his young age to the details that drove him all the way to the championship, it was great hearing it all.

A fascinating deep dive in Verstappen Lore

Let's get the elephant out of the room - everything new in this book is in the first four chapters. if you followed F1 avidly since 2015 or earlier nothing in the later chapters will surprise you.

But, and this is a big one, the entire lore of the Verstappens(yes all of them - even the Kumpens) is combined so well that you will be enthralled throughout. The quotes from Van Der Garde, and other benefactors who bankrolled Max's career and had close dealings with Jos are truly fascinating.


The way Max's story in F1 is covered starting in 2015 and concluding in mid 2023 is less like a boring reading of facts and more like a fascinating insight of why certain incidents happened that Max was involved with, and what ripple effects it created in the entire F1 ecosystem. The ending of 2021 is respectful to the circumstances but is sympathetic to the sensible view that it wasn't Max's fault. He deserved the championship based on his performance throughout the year and it just happened that the circumstances fell into Max's lap on the last lap of that fateful race.

Incredible stuff, looking forward to reading more stuff from Mark Hughes!

Nice work Mark

I really enjoyed the book. Max is a very interesting character and Mark does a great job navigating his life.

Fascinating

Was very insightful. Intersting to get insight into how Max was raised and just how different and talented he is both naturally gifted and the unusual upbringing with two driver champions for a mother and father.

Excellent

This was a Fantastic book on Max Verstappen’s career through 2023. It was well-researched, organized, and unbiased.

nothing, i could up with more interesting stuff

N o substance at all. sounds like it was written by sk.eone who never followed F1 and is juts going off wjat the read that others have said

AI readers ruin book

This recording is ruined by an AI generated voice. It is flat and has no attention or inflection
Terrible
I stopped after 5 chapter