Inside Max Verstappen’s lavish lifestyle: the F1 World Champion splurges his US$50 million salary on Aston Martins and Ferraris, rents a mega-luxury flat in Monaco and has his own private jet

Max Verstappen’s Formula One career began before he was legally old enough to drive in certain countries. He was the youngest F1 driver at 17, the youngest Grand Prix winner at 18, and Netherlands’ first World Champion at 24. During this time, he has amassed a small fortune through salaries, bonuses and sponsorships. According to Forbes, Verstappen was the second-best-paid driver behind Lewis Hamilton and the 27th highest-earning sportsman in 2021, raking in a comfortable US$42.5 million. Earlier this year, Verstappen signed a seven-year contract extension at Red Bull, with an annual salary of US$50 million before bonuses. As his bank balance heads deeper into the black, his portfolio has grown to include a collection of Aston Martins that would make James Bond jealous, his own customised private jet, and two Bengal cats with whom he shares his Monaco flat. We take a look at how Verstappen spends the money he earns on the track, off the track. Who’s the richest in Will Smith’s family? Net worths, ranked He rents a US$16 million flat in Monaco The day after his 18th birthday, Verstappen moved to Monaco, which is known to have some of the world’s most expensive property. Despite his recent salary bump, Verstappen is yet to buy property and instead rents a US$16 million flat on the eighth floor overlooking the Mediterranean. He often posts videos of his workouts on his large balcony-cum-gym and can occasionally be seen jogging around the exclusive neighbourhood. Although far from home, Verstappen is surrounded by some familiar faces. Many of his fellow drivers – including Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and, most recently, Lando Norris – have properties in Monaco too. Verstappen reportedly lives in Fontvieille, the southernmost district in Monaco, which is right next to the water and, conveniently, the Monaco Heliport. His car collection includes Ferraris and Aston Martins It is no surprise that Verstappen apparently wants to drive the best cars both on and off the track. At just 24 years old, he’s already amassed an enviable collection of European cars worth around US$6.4 million. His first car was a gift from his parents – a yellow Renault Clio that today would cost between US$13,000 and US$24,000. His first automobile purchase of his own was a Renault R. S. 01 (US$400,000) in 2015, followed by a Porsche 911 GT3 RS (US$400,000), which he gifted himself after winning his first race in 2016. Clearly not yet used to high tabs, he told Top Gear magazine at the time that “the insurance bill is not nice”. Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s billionaire lifestyle – beyond his US$400 T-shirts Since 2019, Verstappen has owned four Aston Martins. His first was a DB11 – the street-approved version of the DB10 driven by Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Spectre. Worth around US$205,000, the car has orange stitching on the seats and orange brake calipers in – possibly a nod to his home country? Next, he bought a 2018 Vantage (US$150,000) and a V12-powered DBS Superleggera (US$360,000) before splurging on the Valkyrie hypercar, an Aston Martin-Red Bull collaboration that is worth an estimated US$2.7 million. So far this F1 season, Red Bull’s biggest rivals are the men in red, but Verstappen is more partial to Ferraris off the track. He owns a Ferrari 488 Pista (US$331,000) that can hit 100km/h in just 2.85 seconds and the very exclusive Ferrari Monza SP2, worth a reported US$1.8 million. To top off his growing collection, he owns another rival-made car: a Mercedes-Benz C63 S AMG worth a relatively humble US$78,000. Inside Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s (very) complicated relationship He loves fast machines – on water, land or simulated Verstappen makes the most of his seaside residence by taking his need for speed to the water during his downtime, and can sometimes be spotted enjoying the Mediterranean waters on his customised Red Bull jet ski. Watercrafts come with a price tag of anywhere between US$5,700 and US$20,000, and Verstappen’s powerful craft likely falls on the costlier end of the spectrum. Meanwhile, in his Monaco living room sits his SimRacer, which “nobody is allowed to go near”, he said during a G-Star Raw interview. High-end simulation racing gear can set an enthusiast back thousands of dollars, and even more if you’re Verstappen, who has a Playseat F1 Ultimate cockpit (US$2,800), a custom-made LM-Pro steering wheel by Precision Sim Engineering (US$1,800), Heusinkveld Ultimate pedals (US$1,100), and a Leo Bodnar SimSteering system (US$4,000). The entire set-up is estimated to cost anywhere from US$15,000 to more than US$35,000. Expensive and fast machines aside, Verstappen also enjoys scooting around Monaco and the paddocks. The customised Xiaomi M365 scooter has a top speed of around 26km/h and carries a much more modest price tag of between US$499 and US$599. The richest Bling Empire season 2 cast members, net worths ranked He owns a long-range private jet The 2022 Formula One calendar is the busiest to date, with 23 Grand Prix races held across five continents between March and November. The World Champion must therefore be happy with his 2020 purchase of the Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft from Virgin Galactic. According to reports, the private jet used to belong to no other than Richard Branson. The plane also has a customised exterior, with a matt finish and the Verstappen logo of a lion – the national animal of the Netherlands – on the tail fin. Built in 2008, the plane is valued at around US$15 million, with a hefty estimated annual upkeep bill of more than US$1 million. The EX variant is the long-range plane in the Falcon 900 series (necessary for F1 racers’ transatlantic flights) and has an all-glass flight deck, bar and optional shower. Excluding the cockpit, the cabin is around 12 metres (around 40 feet) long and 1.88 metres high, and can comfortably fit 12 passengers, fewer if the adjustable seats are combined to form beds. There is therefore ample space for family and friends, and Verstappen occasionally gives his former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo lifts to and from races as they reportedly live in the same Monaco building. The plane even has its own Twitter fan page! He enjoys holidaying with family View this post on Instagram A post shared by KELLY PIQUET (@kellypiquet) For Verstappen, the ultimate holiday is all about “doing fun things with friends and family”, he said in his G-Star Raw interview. During the recent break between seasons, Verstappen spent time in Brazil with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet’s family before jetting off to Miami. Soon after, he was off to Austria for an exhibition at the GP Ice Race and took some time off for a helicopter ride above the Alps, which can cost around US$1,800 per hour. He has expensive cats that appear in his Instagram posts In August 2021, Verstappen welcomed new roommates: two Bengal cats that occasionally make cameo appearances on his Instagram feed. The breed is one of the most expensive in the world, with each feline costing an average of US$1,500-US$3,000. Not to mention food and vet bills. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Max Verstappen (@maxverstappen1) The cats, Jimmy and Sass, are named after Monaco hotspots Jimmy’z Monte-Carlo and Sass Café, he once explained in an interview. However, when the pets crawled around his pedals during a sim race, in a video shared on YouTube, Verstappen quipped that he’d call them Lewis and Toto – after Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff. The nicknames have since become a running joke among fans. How does Julia Roberts spend her epic US$250 million net worth? His girlfriend’s dad was three-time Formula One world champ When asked during an online fan meet what his best buy was to date, the F1 champion joked, “My girlfriend.” His partner Kelly Piquet is no stranger to the racetrack or Dutch idiosyncrasies. The 33-year-old model and columnist grew up around the paddocks as her dad is three-time Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet and her mum is a former model from the Netherlands. Piquet has a daughter, Penelope, with Russian racing driver Daniil Kvyat, who she dated until late 2019. In October the following year, she began dating Verstappen, who announced their relationship by way of an Instagram post on January 1, 2021, saying: “Wishing you all success, love and happiness just as I found mine.” Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.