Max Verstappen named in elite club as prestigious magazine list is unveiled

Max Verstappen celebrates in Suzuka.

Max Verstappen has been named as one of the members of the 2024 TIME100, as the prestigious magazine unveiled its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The reigning F1 World Champion has appeared alongside other members of the sporting world, politicians, artists, musicians, actors, journalists and more as TIME Magazine released its annual list of the most influential people on the planet.

Max Verstappen makes TIME Magazine’s list of 100 most influential people

The full list of 100 people sees the Red Bull driver under the section of ‘Titans’ along with the likes of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, talk show host Kelly Ripa, American musician Jack Antonoff, as well as a Red Bull link in Larry Ellison, CEO of the F1 team’s title sponsor Oracle.

Verstappen’s on-track success saw him take 19 wins from 22 races last season in an all-time record for Formula 1, and the winning juggernaut rolls on with three wins out of four so far in 2024.

He is not the first Formula 1 driver to have been listed in the TIME100, with Michael Schumacher having made the cut in 2005 following his seventh World Championship the previous year and Lewis Hamilton doing so in 2020, the year of his seventh title.

PlanetF1.com recommends

F1 2024 cars: What name has each team given their chassis for the 2024 season?

How to become an F1 driver: Money, dedication, talent and more

In a profile of Verstappen, explaining his place on the list and his current dominance of the sport, TIME wrote: “Orange-clad fans flock to his races to cheer him on, while others, dressed in the outfits of rival teams like Ferrari and Mercedes, boo him on the podium.

“The $3.2 billion Formula 1 business, which grew 25 per cent in 2023, now centers on a singular question. Can anyone stop Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing machine? He’s entrenched – quite comfortably – in the driver’s seat.”

Upon the release of their annual list, TIME Editor in Chief Sam Jacobs said: “Influence, we know, is complex: it can be for better and for worse, it can span generations, categories, and perspectives…

“Now in our 101st year, TIME continues to evolve. Today, we convene our TIME100 community across the globe, with events spanning 12 cities and four continents…. TIME100 is an unparalleled way for us to tell essential stories about the people and ideas that shape and improve the world.”

Verstappen currently leads Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez by 13 points in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.