Having spent a season and a bit in the Toro Rosso school of F1, he was quickly promoted to the front running Red Bull team in 2016, where he promptly won his first Grand Prix. More success followed in 2017 and 2018, and as the new car launches today, there is a good chance that Max will be challenging for the World Championship in 2019, should Honda make enough progress as they have been doing in the past year.
The Max Verstappen shop exclusively sells small runs of Minichamps car under the Max Verstappen Collection (MVC), and they are not limited to 1/43 scale models, but also include 1/18 scale and helmets. You have to be pretty quick off the mark for some of these cars, as some of them can quickly sell for double the price in the second hand market, whilst others are less popular. I have not owned them all, but I have owned a few and I wanted to share some of them with you in this post as we look ahead to the 2019 season. There are other versions of his cars available from Minichamps and Spark but I will save them for another time.
Max is the only current driver with a collection, being about as successful as the Senna and Schumacher collections. Other (less successful) drivers to have had collections included Heinz-Harold Frentzen, Johnny Herbert and Takuma Sato.
2014 Toro Rosso STR9 - Japanese GP Practice. MVC 19
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| Minichamps 447140138 |
Chronologically, this is the first Formula 1 car that Max drove on an official Grand Prix, driving in practice at Suzuka in Japan. It was remarked at that weekend just how mature he was for his age, and that they hype surrounding him was real. 2014 was the season he battled Esteban Ocon for the European Formula 3 title, but came third despite some great drives and great moments. He had considered an offer to be a part of the Mercedes young driver programme, but opted for the Red Bull route, and almost as soon as this was confirmed, had Toro Rosso announced that he would be their driver for 2015.
Score: 8/10
2015 Toro Rosso STR10 - Malaysian GP. MVC 02
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| Minichamps 447150133 |
The first in the Max Verstappen Collection was his debut in the Toro Rosso at the Australian Grand Prix, which I haven't owned. He was running in the points before an engine failure caused him to retire. The second in the collection, pictured here, is of the next race in Malaysia where Max scored his first points.
There was a nice version from the Hungarian GP that year, but that was not part of this collection.
Score: 8/10
2016 Red Bull RB7 - Demonstration run. MVC 06
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| Minichamps 443169933 |
After an impressive debut season, Max was invited to drive in a Red Bull RB7 at a snow demonstration run at Kitzbuhel. It was the first time we'd see Max in Red Bull colours, though few predicted it would come so soon. This model is available in normal Minichamps boxes, but I love the work they did on the wheels with the steel chains.
Score: 8/10
2016 Toro Rosso STR11 - Russian GP. MVC 04
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| Minichamps 417160133 |
Max's second season with the Toro Rosso team only lasted for four races, and this model is of his final race for the team, though he ultimately retired from the race. James Key led some lovely designed chassis, often held back by the power unit and lack of funds for development, but I was always a big fan of his Toro Rosso cars, and it will remain to be seen if he can fulfil his potential in McLaren for the 2020 season. But enough about James Key, Kvyat had an awful start in the Red Bull team and Max was promoted to the lead team for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Score: 8/10
2016 Red Bull RB12 - Spanish GP. MVC 05
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| Minichamps 447160333 |
Starting from sixth on the grid, the leading Mercedes famously crashed into each other on the first lap. Max then ran behind his teammate in second place in the early stages. But with Daniel Ricciardo covering Sebastian Vettel on a three stop strategy, Max and Kimi Raikkonen were on the more favourable 2 stop strategy, and Max drove maturely ahead of the faster Ferrari to claim his first win in his debut race for Red Bull. This was how Max crossed the line, with fist in the air, on medium tyres, and a missing camera on the nose - nice detail from Minichamps. I also like Minichamps attempt at the matte paint scheme which looks lovely in certain lights.
Score: 8/10
They actually released a second version from the Spanish Grand Prix as MVC 10, facing the other way and with a pitboard. A flurry of other 2016 cars appeared, I don't have these ones:
- MVC 13 - Japanese GP - 2nd place
- MVC 23 - Italian GP Practice - with halo
- MVC 27 - Malaysian GP Practice - with aero rakes
... but I do have these:
2016 Red Bull RB12 - Austrian GP. MVC 11
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| Minichamps 447160633 |
Max finished at Red Bull's home circuit in Austria in 2nd place, with him wearing a lederhosen version of his overalls. I actually received this with a damaged case so I returned it, but it was sold out and not replaced.
Score: 8/10
2016 Red Bull RB12 - British GP. MVC 12
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| Minichamps 447160733 |
Max finished the next race also in second, with an impressive drive in changeable conditions which included an amazing overtake on eventual World Champion Nico Rosberg around the outside of the fast Chapel corner. This model comes with intermediate tyres, always a welcome addition.
Score: 8/10
2016 Red Bull RB12 - Brazilian GP. MVC 14
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| Minichamps 447161233 |
Another podium finish and another version of the RB12. For me, this was a stand out performance in the wet. Personally, Hamilton was the 'Driver of the Day', but Max completed several outstanding overtakes, survived a spin whilst many others ended up in the wall, and showed incredible quick pace in treacherous conditions. The recent greats had incredible wet-weather performances, Senna at Donington 1993, Schumacher in Spain 1996, Hamilton at Silverstone in 2008 and you can add Verstappen Brazil 2016 to that list. Minichamps have done a good job in making the race to race changes, not just to decals, but shape too, like the gills by the side of the cockpit and the rear wing endplate. I'm surprised that this model is not yet sold out on their store, but with so many RB12's to collect, and a slightly higher volume run of 2,000 models, it doesn't help it's long-term value.
Score: 8/10
2017 Red Bull RB13 - Australian GP. MVC 25
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| Minichamps 413170133 |
Score: 8/10
2017 Red Bull RB13 - Malaysian GP. MVC 28
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| Minichamps 447171533 |
The 2nd win of Max's career came over a season later at the Malaysian Grand Prix, and like buses you don't get one for ages and then two come in short succession. The late season model saw much more developed barge boards and the driver numbers are now more prominent on the shark fins. This model comes with a standing figure, which by the way have vastly improved since their early 2000 versions.
I was too slow to get these two models which have much lower production runs:
- MVC 26 - Chinese GP 3rd place (only 333 models)
- MVC 27 - Mexican GP winner (only 500 models) with raised fist.
I had the normal Minichamps version of the Mexican GP, but does not come with the raised fist. For a fine drive, it was perhaps overshadowed by Hamilton winning the championship at that race.
2018 Red Bull RB14 - Spanish GP. MVC 35
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| Minichamps 413180533 |
Max's 2018 began with lots of errors, but once they were eradicated, he had an incredibly strong season. In the later part of the season he was scoring points at a similar rate to champion, Lewis Hamilton as Vettel's challenge faded. The Spanish Grand Prix saw his first podium. New for 2018 is the halo, and see how much more developed the barge-board region is from the beginning of 2017. Nice work from Minichamps.
Score: 8/10
2018 Red Bull RB14 - Austrian GP. MVC 37
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| Minichamps 413180933 |
Score: 8/10
2018 Red Bull RB14 - Mexican GP. MVC 39
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| Minichamps 443181933 |
Score: 8/10
Below are links to my other 2019 challenger career in models articles:
Lewis Hamilton
For more about World Champions, click here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/f1-world-champions.html
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