Max Esterson
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Max Esterson

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Maxwell Esterson (born 9 October 2002) is an American racing driver who began his career as one of the top sim-racers in the world before transitioning to real-world competition, progressing through Formula Ford, GB3, FIA Formula 3, and FIA Formula 2, and subsequently moving to IMSA SportsCar Championship prototype racing.

Esterson started competing on iRacing at the age of eleven and became one of the highest-ranked road course sim-racers in the United States, ranking within the top 35 globally and top four in the US on iRacing. He finished seventh in the 2019 VRS Pro GT Championship and in 2020 won the Formula Race Promotions iRacing Challenge. In 2021 he won the Road to Indy TireRack.com eSeries. During the COVID-19 pandemic he tutored multiple professional racing drivers on the platform, including IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and sportscar driver Richard Westbrook.

Esterson made his single-seater debut in 2020 in the F1600 Championship Series with Team Pelfrey, taking one victory and finishing fifth. He also won a single F2000 Championship Series race at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, setting the track record at the time. At the end of 2020 he contested the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy with Low-Dempsey Racing, qualifying second in his heat at the Festival and reaching the Grand Final.

In 2021 he competed in the BRSCC Avon Tyres National Formula Ford Championship for Low Dempsey Racing, scoring two wins and finishing third in the championship. He then finished second in the 50th Anniversary Formula Ford Festival and won the 2021 Walter Hayes Trophy as part of the Team USA Scholarship programme.

Esterson returned to the Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy in 2022 with Ammonite Motorsport. At the Festival he took pole by 0.8 seconds, won his heat, won his semifinal, and led every lap of the Final before being awarded the victory when the race was shortened due to torrential weather. At the Walter Hayes Trophy he again dominated qualifying and the heat and semifinal stages, led every lap of the Grand Final, but was dropped from first to fifth following a 4.5-second penalty for a collision โ€” a controversial ruling that denied him back-to-back Trophy wins.

Esterson moved to the GB3 Championship in 2022 with Douglas Motorsport. He scored his breakthrough win at Donington Park, taking Race 2 from pole position, and finished the season seventh overall. In 2023 he joined Fortec Motorsports. The campaign was disrupted by mechanical failures across multiple rounds but he secured a podium with a third place at Donington Park in the final round, finishing the season 11th.

Esterson made partial appearances in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2023 with Rodin Carlin as a mid-season replacement, achieving a best finish of 18th at Budapest. He was classified 35th in the final standings. He also contested the Macau Grand Prix with Jenzer Motorsport.

For 2024 Esterson joined FIA Formula 3 on a full-time basis with Jenzer Motorsport. He qualified tenth for the Sakhir sprint race and ran in the top ten throughout to finish sixth. He also qualified second in a wet session at Silverstone and finished seventh in the Spa-Francorchamps feature race โ€” the team's strongest results of the season. He finished 21st in the championship, the best-placed Jenzer driver.

At the end of 2024 Esterson was announced as a replacement driver for Trident in Formula 2 for the final two rounds of the season, stepping in for Richard Verschoor. He continued with Trident for the full 2025 season alongside Sami Meguetounif, but the team parted ways with both drivers before the Baku round without either having scored points.

Following his Formula 2 exit, Esterson made his sportscar debut in the IMSA SportsCar Championship's top GTP category, driving a Porsche 963 for JDC-Miller MotorSports at Petit Le Mans. He subsequently confirmed his participation in the GTD Pro class at the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona with RLL Team McLaren.

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

๐Ÿ SimVox โ€” launching summer 2026
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