Max Esterson


Maxwell Esterson is an American racing driver and esports driver who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for RLL Team McLaren. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Trident and in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport.

Single-seater career

Sim racing

Esterson started his sim racing career on iRacing at the age of eleven. He then went on to become one of the top sim-racers in the world, including finishing in seventh 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-four 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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Esterson tutored multiple drivers on iRacing, including Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook.

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.

Formula Ford

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 second in his heat at the Formula Ford Festival, and finished sixth 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

Esterson 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.

GB3 Championship

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, Esterson 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 tenth and ninth 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.
File:70th MACAU GRAND PRIX.jpg|thumb|left|Esterson driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2023 Macau Grand Prix

2023

In 2023, Esterson 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-ten throughout the whole race, holding off Gabriele Minì for sixth place. Esterson would only claim one more points finish in 2024, taking seventh in the Spa-Francorchamps feature race, but impressed at Silverstone by qualifying second during a wet-weather session. He finished 21st in the standings, highest of all Jenzer drivers.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2024

At the end of 2024, Esterson was announced to make his Formula 2 debut with Trident for the final two rounds of the season, replacing Richard Verschoor who himself replaced the outgoing Dennis Hauger at MP Motorsport.

2025

Esterson continued with Trident for the 2025 Formula 2 season, alongside Sami Meguetounif. Having failed to score points throughout the campaign, Trident and Esterson, along with Meguetounif decided to part ways prior to the Baku round; being replaced by Formula 3 graduates Martinius Stenshorne and Laurens van Hoepen.

Sportscar career

Following his Formula 2 exit, it was announced that Esterson would make his sportscar racing debut in the uppermost category of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, driving a Porsche 963 for JDC–Miller MotorSports at Petit Le Mans. Esterson stated that he considered this race a "test" owing to his lack of experience. Esterson was later confirmed to make his debut in the GTD Pro class with RLL Team McLaren at the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona.

Personal life

Esterson grew up in New York City going to the Allen-Stevenson School and attended Regis High School, graduating in 2021. His older brother, Hugh, is also a racing driver.

Racing record

Career summary

Season still in progress.

Complete GB3 Championship results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
2022Douglas MotorsportOUL
1
19		OUL
2
11		OUL
3
81		SIL1
1
4		SIL1
2
4		SIL1
3
105		DON1
1
3		DON1
2
1		DON1
3
117		SNE
1
10		SNE
2
10		SNE
3
75		SPA
1
4		SPA
2
3		SPA
3
173		SIL2
1
9		SIL2
2
10		SIL2
3
Ret		BRH
1
10		BRH
2
18		BRH
3
Ret		DON2
1
11		DON2
2
8		DON2
3
18		7th292.5
2023Fortec MotorsportsOUL
1
7		OUL
2
4		OUL
3
Ret		SIL1
1
13		SIL1
2
8		SIL1
3
22		SPA
1
6		SPA
2
Ret		SPA
3
21		SNE
1
20		SNE
2
16		SNE
3
169		SIL2
1
10		SIL2
2
9		SIL2
3
C		BRH
1
11		BRH
2
11		BRH
3
Ret		ZAN
1
13		ZAN
2
13		ZAN
3
92		DON
1
6		DON
2
3		DON
3
89		11th215

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728DCPoints
TridentBHR
SPR		BHR
FEA		JED
SPR		JED
FEA		MEL
SPR		MEL
FEA		IMO
SPR		IMO
FEA		MON
SPR		MON
FEA		CAT
SPR		CAT
FEA		RBR
SPR		RBR
FEA		SIL
SPR		SIL
FEA		HUN
SPR		HUN
FEA		SPA
SPR		SPA
FEA		MNZ
SPR		MNZ
FEA		BAK
SPR		BAK
FEA		LSL
SPR
14		LSL
FEA
18		YMC
SPR
14		YMC
FEA
17		31st0
TridentMEL
SPR
Ret		MEL
FEA
C		BHR
SPR
Ret		BHR
FEA
21		JED
SPR
18		JED
FEA
18		IMO
SPR
17		IMO
FEA
19		MON
SPR
13		MON
FEA
Ret		CAT
SPR
19		CAT
FEA
14		RBR
SPR
10		RBR
FEA
15		SIL
SPR
21		SIL
FEA
13		SPA
SPR
14		SPA
FEA
16		HUN
SPR
19		HUN
FEA
19		MNZ
SPR
Ret		MNZ
FEA
15		BAK
SPR		BAK
FEA		LSL
SPR		LSL
FEA		YMC
SPR		YMC
FEA		23rd0

Season still in progress.