Max Esterson

Maxwell Esterson (born October 9, 2002) is an American racing driver and sim-racer and is currently competing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport. He most recently competed in the GB3 Championship with Fortec Motorsports. He is also a former Red Bull athlete.

Sim racing
Esterson started his sim racing career on iRacing at the age of 11. He then went on to become one of the top sim-racers in the world, including finishing in 7th place in the 2019 VRS Pro GT Championship. This string of results quickly showed as he was ranked within the top 35 road course drivers in the world and top 4 in the US on the iRacing program. In 2020 he became champion of the Formula Race Promotions iRacing Challenge. He followed this by winning the 2021 Road to Indy TireRack.com eSeries.

Karting
Esterson started karting when he was almost 16. In 2019 he contested his first partial season in karting at Oakland Valley Race Park, competing with McAleer Racing.

2020
Esterson made his single-seater racing debut in 2020, competing in the F1600 Championship Series with Team Pelfrey. He took one victory and finished the season in fifth. He also contested a single race in the F2000 Championship Series at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, which he won, setting at the time the track-record. At the end of the year Esterson made his debut at two of the world’s biggest races, the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy. Running with Low-Dempsey Racing, Esterson qualified 2nd in his heat at the Formula Ford Festival, and finished 6th in the Grand Final.

2021
In 2021 Esterson competed in the BRSCC Avon Tyres National Formula Ford Championship for Low Dempsey Racing where he scored two wins and finished third in the Championship. He then went on to finish second in the 50th Anniversary BRSCC Formula Ford Festival and won the 2021 Walter Hayes Trophy as part of the Team USA Scholarship.

2022
He returned to the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy with Ammonite Motorsport in 2022. At the Formula Ford Festival he took pole by 0.8sec, won his heat, won his semifinal and was on pole for the final. Esterson led every lap of the Final and was then awarded victory as the race was shortened due to torrential weather conditions. In the Walter Hayes Trophy Esterson again qualified on pole, won his heat race, won his semifinal and led every lap of the Grand Final for the second year in a row, finishing first but he was then dropped to fifth after a controversial ruling handed him a 4.5-second penalty for a collision with another driver.

2022
In 2022 Esterson progressed to the GB3 Championship, partnering Tommy Smith and Marcos Flack at Douglas Motorsport. He started out by taking his first top ten finish in Race 3 at the season opener in Oulton Park, before scoring a pair of fourth places at Silverstone. The third round of the season at Donington Park would prove to be his most successful one, as Esterson achieved his maiden podium in the first race, before winning Race 2 from pole position, thus securing his first win in slicks-and-wings machinery. He finished the season in seventh.

2023
In 2023 he joined Fortec Motorsports in the GB3 Championship. The season started with a series of misfortune, with a multitude of mechanical failures and difficult conditions leading to disappointing finishes in regard to his pace. His qualifying was hampered by a red flag at Spa, followed by a technical failure in race two after a strong drive to fourth. He would again make a strong drive in the reverse grid race, setting the fastest lap of the race and making up twelve places in six laps, only to be taken out at Les Combes. An electrical failure at Snetterton during qualifying meant that he started at the back of the grid for all three races. His woes were exacerbated in the second Silverstone round, where he had two engine failures during free practice, and an underpowered engine for qualifying, despite this, he was able to recover well across the weekend, recovering to 10th and 9th in the first and second races respectively, from 18th on the grid. At the last race in Donington Park, Esterson would score his only podium with a third place in race two. Esterson finished the season in 11th, four places lower than the previous year.

FIA Formula 3
At the end of 2022, Esterson took part in the post-season test of the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing.

2023
In 2023 he joined Rodin Carlin in the FIA Formula 3 Championship ahead of the round at Silverstone, replacing Hunter Yeany for both that round and Budapest. Esterson finished a highest finish of 18th place in Budapest. He returned to his GB3 duties following that, and was replaced in his seat by Euroformula Open racer Francesco Simonazzi for the final two rounds. He was classified 35th, albeit last in the standings. For the post-season tests, Esterson was fielded in by Jenzer Motorsport. Esterson also partook in the Macau Grand Prix with Jenzer.

2024
In 2024, Esterson joined FIA Formula 3 on a full-time basis, teaming up with Jenzer Motorsport. During the Sakhir Formula 3 Sprint Race, he qualified an impressive tenth, and was able to stay in the top 10 throughout the whole race, holding off Gabriele Minì for sixth place.

Personal life
Esterson grew up in New York City going to the Allen-Stevenson School and attended Regis High School, graduating in 2021.

Career summary
* Season still in progress.

Complete GB3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
 * Season still in progress.