Is There a Topps Formula 1 Paper Flagship? What the F1 Base Set Actually Is
Formula 1 has no annual paper flagship base set the way baseball does. Topps Chrome Formula 1 is the F1 program's base set — here's the real structure of the program, and where Max Verstappen's cards actually sit in it.
If you came here looking for the paper Topps Formula 1 flagship base set, the honest answer is the one almost nobody writes down: it does not exist. Formula 1 does not work the way baseball does, and assuming it does sends collectors hunting a set that was never printed.
The F1 program has no paper base set
In baseball, Topps issues a paper flagship (Series 1 and 2) and then re-renders the same photos and card numbers on chromium as Topps Chrome. Nearly every guide to F1 collecting quietly copies that structure across. It doesn’t hold.
In Formula 1, Topps Chrome Formula 1 is itself the base set. The 2025 edition is a 200-card base checklist — cards 1–72 covering F1, F2 and F3 drivers, then F1 Cars, Grand Prix Winners, Pole Position, Driver Of The Day, Award Winners, Legends, Duo Cards, Team Logos, On The Move and Team Principals — with the parallel rainbow stacked on top. There is no paper edition of that checklist. (Source: the 2025 Topps Chrome Formula 1 checklist published by checklistinsider.com.)
Everything else Topps issues for F1 is a separate product with its own checklist, not a parallel of a paper original:
- Topps Chrome F1 Sapphire — the genuine exception: Sapphire does reuse the Chrome base checklist, on Sapphire stock, as an online-exclusive.
- Topps Chrome LogoFractor F1 — another Chrome-derived online edition.
- Topps Eccellenza F1 — premium, paper, and low-count. The 2025 edition has a 150-card base/insert checklist with no card numbers at all, split across ten Italian-named subsets, in seven-card boxes.
- Topps Lights Out F1 — an online-exclusive with a 57-card unnumbered checklist, parallels running Blue /99 down to a Gold Framed 1/1.
- Topps Dynasty F1 — one autographed relic card per box, every autograph /10 or less. No base set at all.
- Topps Finest F1, Topps Paddock Pass — further standalone releases.
- Topps F1 Turbo Attax — the mass-market retail card game, on paper stock, with its own large checklist.
- Topps Now F1 — print-to-order singles tied to race moments. See the Topps Now guide.
Two of those — Eccellenza and Lights Out — are printed on paper, which is probably where the “paper flagship” idea came from. Neither is a base set in the flagship sense: both are premium, limited, online-sold products with unnumbered checklists.
So what should a Verstappen collector actually buy first?
The cheapest licensed Verstappen card is a base Chrome out of retail. Chrome F1 ships in Value Blaster boxes as well as Hobby boxes, so the base card is a cheap card — you are not forced into a Hobby box to own one. In the 2025 edition Verstappen is #1 (F1 Drivers) and #73 (F1 Cars).
The card that carries rookie-anchor weight is the 2020 Chrome. Verstappen debuted in F1 in 2015, five years before Topps held a modern F1 licence, so there are no mainstream licensed chrome cards of him before 2020. That gap is why the 2020 Topps Chrome Formula 1 release is treated as the anchor of his modern run.
Cheaper still, if a game card is fine, is Topps F1 Turbo Attax — licensed, printed in huge quantity, and sold in supermarkets.
Where the paper does matter: Eccellenza
If what you actually wanted from a “paper flagship” was a paper Verstappen card with real weight behind it, Topps Eccellenza Formula 1 is the product to know. It is premium rather than accessible, but it is where Topps put its Verstappen headline: alongside a new exclusive autograph, trading-card and merchandise contract with Verstappen, Topps inserted a one-of-one relic containing a piece of his race-worn suit from the fastest lap in F1 history into a single random pack of 2025 Eccellenza.
He also runs through the 2025 Eccellenza base checklist in the Centurione (100+ Grands Prix), Eccellenza, Essenza, La Passione, La Squadra (paired with Yuki Tsunoda), Supremo and Trionfo subsets, with parallels Green /99, Pink /75, Purple /50, Orange /25, Black /10, Red /5 and Gold 1/1, and relics including jumbo race-suit, nameplate, glove, balaclava and boot swatches.
How to read a listing that says “Topps Formula 1”
Sellers use the phrase loosely. When you see it with no further product name, check the card itself against three possibilities:
- A Topps Chrome F1 card — mirrored, reflective stock, a card number in the 1–200 range for recent years. The most common case by far.
- A Topps Now card — a single card commemorating one dated race moment, sold print-to-order. These are very often listed as just “Topps F1”.
- A Turbo Attax game card — matte paper, subset name on the front, part of a large retail checklist.
None of these is a paper flagship, and the three trade at completely different levels.
How to buy
Singles trade on eBay, not Amazon, so search the live market for the exact card and finish you want, then sort by sold for honest comps. For anything at a serious price point — a 2020 rookie-anchor card, a low-numbered parallel, an autograph — buy it graded (PSA or SGC) so condition and authenticity are locked in. Our should-you-grade guide walks through when the fee is worth it, and the authentication guide covers spotting fakes and forged autos.
New to the program? Start with the Max Verstappen rookie cards guide, then the “what’s it worth” page for reading values by card type and grade. For the signed side, see the autographs & chrome guide. Background on the team he drives for is on our Red Bull Racing page, and the release calendar shows what’s out and what’s next.
Find singles from this set on eBay
Rookies, refractors, numbered parallels and autos from this set trade on eBay, not Amazon — these open live listings for each. Buy graded (PSA or SGC) for anything at a serious price point.