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

by Mark Hughes

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 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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Sports

Audible Audio

Published September 7, 2023

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography, interesting read, extremely boring how every terrible thing JV did the author excuses because he's "likeable" and because it got Max to where he is now. Sometimes things can be bad even if they contributed to a positive result (Max winning).

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr detaillierte Max Verstappen Biographie, in der die Männer der Familie einen nicht kleinen Teil einnehmen. Diese nehmen offensichtlich kein Blatt vor den Mund und teilen verbal gerne aus. Egal ob Großvater, Vater Jos oder Max.
Von den Anfängen in der Kartfamilie (Mutter Sophie fuhr auch erfolgreich Rennen), Jos als sehr strenger Formel 1 -erfahrener Schrauber und Coach hin zum WM Titel 2021 und der Kontroverse darum.
Gut geschrieben, viele technische Details und Rennergebnisse.
Hatte ca. 75 Seiten Probleme, danach ist man drin.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good overview of how Max got to where he is today and a really good analysis of his driving style and how unique he is compared to other drivers. I just found the parts about Jos a little strange at times, especially excusing behaviour just because he's apparently likeable or because it got Max to where he is now.

[Klaudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super propozycja dla każdego fana F1. Nieważne jaką darzy się Maxa sympatią (o ile jakąkolwiek symaptią), to pozycja napisana rzeczowo i obiektywnie, pokazująca jak złożoną osobowością jest Holender.
Lektura bardzo przyjemna w odbiorze, skupiająca się na faktach, bez zbędnego "lania wody" i ubarwiania historii. Można uznać, że napisana w stylu po prostu samego Maxa, czyli bez owijania w bawełnę.
Każdy rozdział przypisany jest danemu okresowi przygody kierowcy w świecie motosportu, co daje jasny i czytelny obraz, ale pojawiają się też nawiązania do wydarzeń i wypowiedzi, mających miejsce później, a to dopełnia obraz osoby Verstappena i jego charakteru.
Maxowi kibicuję już czwarty rok, zdążyłam przez ten czas już sporo się o nim dowiedzieć, ale to nie przeszkodziło w tym, aby książka Marka Hughesa przedstawiła mi nowe fakty oraz informacje o moim ulubionym kierowcy. To dobre źródło informacji o kimś tak zamkniętym na świat dominujących dzisiaj mediów.
Za duży plus uznaję pojawiające się wypowiedzi wielu osób ważnych dla samego Holendra, jak i świata F1. Suche słowa nabrały dzięki temu jakby lepszego wydźwięku.
Na koniec dodam, że to książka, która być może przekona wielu przeciwników Maxa oraz jego dominacji, do znalezienia w obecnej sytuacji w królowej motosportu nieco optymizmu i podziwu dla tych kolosalnych osiągnięć.

[Preslava Peneva · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love my problematic son even more now. 🧡
-1 star for acknowledging that jos verstappen exists.

[Julia Szczepańska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generalnie to pierwsza połowa książki to flaki z olejem...500 razy się pogubiłam w wątku. Od momentu dołączenia Maxa do F1 w barwach Toro Rosso, a tym bardziej od momentu, gdy Max przeszedł do seniorskiego zespołu Red Bulla, w którym jego talent nieustannie wzrastał a jego możliwości zdaje się nie znają granic książkę czyta się bardzo przyjemnie.

Miło czyta się o tym, jak twój ulubiony kierowca osiąga ogromne sukcesy, zostając 4-krotnym mistrzem świata, jednocześnie wciąż będąc topowym zawodnikiem F1, mającym szanse na zdobycie kolejnych tytułów.

PS. Osobiście uważam, że mimo iż Max jest wdzięczny swojemu ojcu za przekazanie mu takiej wiedzy i umiejętności w kartingu i motorsporcie, to niektóre zachowania Josa były co najmniej chore.

[Romee Riep · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[karo (: · Rating 4 out of 5]

biografia przyjemna. autor nie umniejsza ani maxowi, ani jego rywalom. język prosty, książka bardzo przyjemna :)

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Mark Hughes is definitely one of the best F1 writers and his biography of Max is a great overview of an amazing driver and career with fabulous insights into his upbringing. Definitely the best I’ve read. Looking forward to part 2 in the (hopefully not too near) future

[Doma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie jestem wstanie dać wyższej oceny. Pierwsze, bodajże, 150 stron brzmiało jak wypracowanie dziecka z podstawówki, które musi być długie, ale uczeń zna tylko jeden fakt i pisze to samo tylko w innych zdaniach🙃

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okey sooo, first of all: ich bin ein max fangirl my guys, er isch THE GOAT

darum hani mi natürlech vou gfreut ds z lese hehe, bi aber ner leider chli enttüscht worde, us fougende gründ:

1. I bi generell immer sehr heiku bi biografie, wenn nid d person seuber se gschribe het (zumindest aus co-autor) oder irgendwo immerhin ir danksagig vorchunnt, iz hie i dem buech werde haut ef nur sehr viu angeri lüt zitiert wiesi übere max rede u o dr max seuber wird zitiert aber haut us artikle/videos u so u ni wüu dr autor seuber mau mit ihm gredet hät (chani aber natürlech verstah das ds haut ni immer müglech isch a so berüemti lüt herezcho).

2. I ha z gfüu gha dr autor spiut sehr abe was dr Max alles het müesse erlebe mit sim Vater, v.a. aus chind. De Maa isch hardcore abusive gsi zu sine froue und o zum max u wer weiss was alles no passiert isch wo nie id öffentlechkeit isch cho und i hasses wenns ner so dr vibe git vo wege
✨️abr derfür isch dr max iz weutmeister✨️ well, es isch haut trotzdem abuse, es git angeri rennfahrer wo erfougriich si worde ohni ds u o we dr max iwie trotz allem glich no si per gern z ha schint, chamer niemer verzeue das alles woner erlebt het eppis guets isch gsi u ihm nur witerghufe het, ds framing vom buech hetmi ef abgefuckt, v.a. ds dr Jos (ebe dr per) ner ono vom autor aus likeable beschribe wird, aso ds isch eif bodenlos. (Btw wird dr Max baud seuber papa (u isch scho sogenannte "bonus-dad" für z chind vo sire fründin) u I mean i kenne ihn nid u i gseh nume züg wo irgendwo veröffentlecht wird, aber so vo dem woni gseh ha, wird dr max e seeeeeeeeehr viu bessere job mache aus si per, breaking the generational trauma, go max<3)

3. Am schluss vom buech wird no beschribe wie dr Max haut eig nümso bock het uf d FIA u so (he's so real for that) u daser vil de mau ufhört mit fahre u dr autor chunt mitemne huere hot take vo wege: "Bei der Abwägung dieser Entscheidung wird wohl nicht zuletzt die Frage nach seinen Finanzen eine entscheidende Rolle spielen. Nämlich die Frage, ob er genug verdient hat, um sich selbst und allen, für die er sich verantwortlich fühlt, weiterhin das Leben zu ermöglichen, an das sie sich gewöhnt haben. Für immer. Das ist eine schwere Bürde für einen so jungen Menschen." Ds hetmi iwie vou gnervt, sorry aber dr Bruder het 200 MILLIONE, I think he'll manage. U süsch müessesi haut e gang zrüggschrube u sech ✨️e yacht weniger choufe✨️. (I love max, tbh o kei anig eb de überhoupt e yacht het, ds isch ja o kei ussag vom max, sondern e vermuetig vom autor, aber mini generelli antipathie gegenüber überriche lüt hani trotzdem müesse üssere).

4. Omg die vile fehler i dem buech, es isch bodelos. Meh chani da garni derzue sege, aus dases mi so fest gnervt het, das ig z buech vo vore nomau wirde lese, komplett dürekorrigierre u ner am verlag schribe.

Iz aber no positivs, us irgendemne grund hani dem buech ja 3 sterne geh hahah:

Am max sini loufbahn z verfouge isch sehr spannend gsi, ha sehr viu o über motorsport und outos generell u wieme genau muess fahre glehrt (isch alles viu komplexer ausme denkt) und i liebes wi scho zude go-karting days viu vode hütige F1-Fahrer vorchöme. O weni so rein vor outotechnik her noni ganz alles verstande ha, chumi doch sehr viu besser drus aus vorem buech u ds wirdmer bide zuekünftige renne heufe z verstah was abgeit u am max si fahrstil isch haut dr oberbanger, er isch ef krass guet, wi gseit THE GOAT. Ha o d rennanalysene mega spannend gfunge, wobi i mues drzue sege das ds für epper wo scho lenger F1 luegt eue weniger interessant wär gsi, wüume ja gwüsst hät wie z renne usgeit (u wer ds alles e unfall bout lol).

Ds isch eig scho z einzig so konstruktiv positive woni cha sege ansonsten ischs ebe chli lost gsi, aber het insgesamt haut glich ef sehr spass gmacht zum lese, darum 3 Sterne.

[Mariya-Nikol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Макар и да не е сред любимите ми пилоти, Верстапен е един от най-добрите състезатели в историята на Формула 1, и ми беше любопитно да се запозная с личността му от по-близо.

С двама родители с успешни кариери в автомобилните спортове, уменията на Макс са смесица от ген, талант и дисциплината, наложена от суровия му баща. Йос определено е създал машина за печелене на титли и вярвам, че това ще продължи да се доказва занапред.

Книгата обхваща цялата състезателна кариера на Макс от първите му стъпки в картинга до Формула 3 и директното му продължаване във Формула 1 след това.

Очарована съм от характера на младия спортист и смятам, че притежава забележителни качества на успешен атлет. С впечатляващо силна психика, спокоен нрав извън пистата, докато на нея е звяр, и много хъс, Макс се състезава не за преследване на рекорди и титли, а за удоволствие, което е и ключът към успеха в спорта изобщо.

[Rachael Shipard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been holding out for this for a while, and i really enjoyed it. Felt good to finish it just as Silverstone begins too. I have a deep respect for Max and his commitment to success regardless of whatever others say or however long it takes. He is the perfect concoction of focused family influence, deliberate practice and emotional detachment which would make him pretty much a ‘lab case’ for peak performance research.

This bio also showed how he most likely only reveals a very external layer of his thoughts to the media, and has the emotional control to separate his own self-assessment from what the rest of the world should hear. Hughes describes races, car aerodynamics and on track skirmishes very well, but sometimes it felt as if the chapters had been written out of order and some info was unnecessarily repeated. But sports bios arent really the place for high literature anyway.

[Marjos Verbeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, content and insight in F1 is great and a good read.
However as a native Dutch speaker i can see the translations of the dutch sources ( for example quotes of his mum ) are being done by a bot or google translate or so. Horrible. Puts a questionmark for me at the care of which this book is produced.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Страхотна книга за любимия ми пилот, изключителен състезател, жертвал много, за да стигне на мястото, където е. Респект за автора, че е уловил това. Подробно ревю може да прочетете в Цитаделата:
https://citadelata.com/%d0%bd%d0%b5%d...

[Mary Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Unstoppable, Hughes recounts Max Verstappen’s upbringing and journey to Formula 1. It covers Verstappen’s early years in karting, up to partway through the 2023 season.

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I found it to be pretty informative, but a bit slow. It didn’t really follow a timeline, instead jumping around a bit at the beginning. It was also repetitive in parts. Ex. Monaco 2022 being mentioned in the beginning, and then closer to the end.

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Verstappen’s hard upbringing was definitely glossed over in my opinion in the book. While a chunk of the first part of the book was heavy on the Jos info, it seemed to justify all of his questionable actions with young Max because he was “likable” or helped get Max to where he is today.

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I hope an updated edition is published! I hate that it cut off mid way through arguably one of the most dominant F1 seasons to date! Seeing as though it was Max who did the dominating, it deserves to be written about.

[Рая Владимирова · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this book, I thought I won’t like this book, because I didn’t like Verstappen as a driver, but I like him as a person and also respect as a driver,but after I read it I started to like him a little bit. When the author talks about Jos(Max’s father) he presents like he was a very good, which for me he is far from being the best father. Yea it’s good that Jos teaches Max not to repeat his mistakes but I don’t think Jos needed to do that big punishments, that he did like that time he left Max at a gas station. When I read about Max’s karting career or Jos’ career at all, I was so bored. My favourite part of the book for sure was the chapter about his first championship in 2021-Lewis vs Max.

[Eyvai ⁵⁵ · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Nie ści­gam się po to, żeby być drugi”

Max jest niesamowita postacią. Nieważne czy się go lubi czy nie, i tak trzeba to przyznać.

Szczerze? Ta książka zdecydowanie nie jest dla kogoś kto jest na bieżąco. Niczego się nie dowiedziałam
Wystarczyło się choć trochę orientować by znać sytuacje i konkretne wyścigi;))

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most beautiful read that explores the life of a generational genius.

[Jenny Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Dzimmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jos to tamto i sramto

[Glen Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Hughes great insight and a valuable read. However, some repetition and foreshadowing made book long at stages

[Agata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dobrze i rzetelnie napisana biografia. Ciekawe aspekty i wytłumaczenie sytuacji.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded to 4 stars because of du du du-du.

It's very much about his racing career and that's it - you see insight into his karting and younger days through what Jos put him through but that's it. I feel that once you read about karting, F3 and then promoted to F1 with Toro Rosso, everything is very hard to digest and distinguish the F1 years from each other.

Max started the race, crashed into a wall or another driver, DNFed - next race, crashed, DNFed, blah blah blah. I didn't know he crashed so much within the first few years in F1 tbh.

Even the 'Abu Dhabi 2021 touchy subject' was, interesting, in the book, only a couple pages were dedicated to it and that's it. And I feel half of that was quotes from journalists and even Nyck on the subject of 'whose fault was the incident?' (RIP his F1 career).

There's a part of me that feels like the book could be seen as slightly bias (???) just because of the way some parts were written - such as AD 2021 and Max's younger years in karting, not fully discussing how traumatic his father really was to a young Max - especially the gas station incident and how Jos reacted to Max getting anything lower than first.

TL;DR - Enjoyed the book - bring on 2024!

[WJ Boon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best biography of Verstappen by a mile

This is an excellent biography. Not because it unearths any new information about Max's early years, which it doesn't. The added value comes from Mark's extensive knowledge and his unrivalled capacity to analyse F1 racing and its drivers. It's not a sycophantic hagiography of Max, but a scrupulously impartial assessment of Max as a driver. Must read for true F1 fans

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately If you follow F1 consistently and you listen to some podcasts regularly it's quite possible know already most of what's in the book.
The most important insight is in the upbringing and karting career of Max and his dynamic with his father Jo's.

[Molly Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

max is so silly and truly a generational talent

[natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

max verstappen, you are a world champion.

[Skie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should have been half its size and published in twenty years from now.

For all his talent, Verstappen is not a particularly interesting person, and his trajectory does not warrant nearly 400 pages to describe.

This book goes on many tangents (like a full chapter dedicated to Jos Verstappen's career) and drags out every single episode told, in an almost infuriating way. I was there for 2021; there is no need for derailed retellings of pretty much every race. You have told me some of these things already; there is no need for it to be rewritten in different words.

The things that could be interesting, like the abuse Max went through as a child are glossed over, which makes them just a repetition of what we already know. There's little focus on who Max is as a person outside of racing, of what racing has made him into.

As someone who is definitely not a Max superfan, this book made me think a little less of him in general and solidified my opinions about his emotional immaturity and dislike for his tendency to lash out with "unnecessary anger and borderline violence". I think there are great ways to use violence on track, but Max always chooses the most boring option.

The only thing I actually enjoyed was getting a concise explanation of his driving style, but there's probably a blog post out there that does this better and would waste less of your time and money.

Max is a great driver. One of the greatest, for sure. But that's it. He drives amazingly, but that is the only thing going for him, and definitely not enough to make an almost 400-page book interesting.

If you want to see how great he is, just put on any Interlagos race (2024 is a favorite of mine). If you want to get to know him as person, you won't. Don't be parasocial.


TL;DR: If you have just gotten into F1 and think you will become a Max superfan, then this book is probably for you. If you are still into F1 in 2060 and want to remember his career, then you will probably enjoy this book.

But if you are a long-term casual viewer who has read a few articles about Verstappen or listened to any hour-long podcast he has done, you can probably skip this. And go watch Interlagos 2024.

[Johnny Johnsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dette var en bok jeg virkelig gledet meg til å lese. Jeg har en stor interesse for Formel 1, og i mine øyne er Max Verstappen den beste føreren som noen gang har vært en del av dette sirkuset. Ja, jeg vet om Senna, Fangio og resten – men jeg står for min mening!
Boken startet sterkt. Jeg skal ærlig innrømme at om en gutt i Norge hadde blitt behandlet som Max ble av sin far (som også er tidligere F1-fører), så hadde det trolig kommet en bekymringsmelding eller to til barnevernet. Oppveksten var knallhard, virkelig knallhard – men den har formet ham til mannen, og føreren, han er i dag. De sier han har arvet intelligensen og farten fra moren, Sophie Kumpen, som selv var ekstremt rask i gokart og kjørte mot navn som Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella og Jarno Trulli. Fra faren har han fått instinktet og den rå ferdigheten og dedikasjonen.
Første halvdel av boken var etter min mening svært god. Da jeg la den fra meg, gledet jeg meg til å fortsette. Men siste del ble ganske annerledes – mer som en oppsummering, løp for løp, av de siste årene. Så, er du hardcore Verstappen-fan, les hele! Hvis ikke, lån den og les første halvdel – den er verdt det alene.
Forfatteren gir både tekniske og personlige innblikk i Verstappen sin karriere – hans enorme fart, mentale styrke og kompromissløse kjørestil. Boken regnes som det mest komplette portrettet av Verstappen til nå, skrevet av Mark Hughes, en av journalistene med best innsikt i F1-verden.

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