AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Max Verstappen and Red Bull entered the United States Grand Prix determined to honor the memory of team founder and owner Dietrich Mateschitz and the racing powerhouse he built.
Both driver and team delivered, overcoming self-inflicted racing drama to chase Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to win on Sunday.
“I think it’s a race he would have loved to see,” Verstappen said of the win, which came a day after the team announced that Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire co-founder of the global energy drink empire Red Bull, had died aged 78. .
The Red Bull team was informed shortly before qualifying on Saturday that Mateschitz had died, and Verstappen vowed he would give everything to secure the victory in his honour.
“The only thing we could do today,” Verstappen said, “was win.”
Still, seeing the checkered flag was a relief.
Verstappen’s race was nearly canceled when a rare slow pit stop – 11 seconds lost to a tricky left front tire change – dropped him off the lead and well behind Hamilton.
“Magnificent,” Verstappen told team radio.
He then chased down last season’s championship rival and overtook him on lap 50 of 56. Verstappen had to hold off the harassing Hamilton in the final laps, and both drivers were warned not to exceed the limits of the track that would result in a penalty.
“This one is definitely dedicated to Dietrich,” Verstappen said. “I pushed him to the limit to come back.”
Hamilton said he simply couldn’t hold off the charging Red Bull.
“It was amazing to be within shooting range of Max at certain points in the race,” Hamilton said. “For a second I thought maybe we could hold him off… He was coming from very, very far.”
The win continued Verstappen’s dominance in 2022.
He had already clinched his second consecutive championship in Japan two weeks earlier. Texas’ win was No. 13 this year, tying Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013) for most in a season with three races to go.
Since its inception, Red Bull has won six drivers’ championships and five constructors’ titles. Verstappen’s win also secured that season’s Tag Team Championship. His teammate at Red Bull, Sergio Perez, finished fourth.
“We wanted to do it in style and I think we did that today,” Verstappen said.
Mateschitz bought the Jaguar team in 2004 and renamed it Red Bull in 2005. He added a second team to the Red Bull stable and named it Toro Rosso in 2006 to be a young driver training program. This team is now Alpha Tauri.
The Red Bull racing program promoted Verstappen to F1 in 2015 when he was just 17 in hopes of becoming the youngest ever champion in the series. Mercedes’ dominance in 2014-20 prevented that.
But Mateschitz, reportedly ill for months, lived long enough to see Verstappen win two championships and begin what could be another dominant era for the team he founded.
F1 held a brief tribute to Mateschitz before the race. Large “Danke Didi” (Thank you, Didi) signs were displayed on the video screens. Vettel, who has won four championships with Red Bull and now races with Aston Martin, seemed to be holding back tears.
Verstappen also appeared to wipe away tears as he stood on the victory podium and the team rallied beneath him.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the championship leader when he won two of the first three races this season. He finished third on Sunday and was asked if Verstappen was starting a new era of Red Bull dominance.
“I hope not,” Leclerc said. “I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m confident we can do it.”
FRUSTRATION FERRARI
Leclerc’s podium was a beacon of hope for Ferrari as he fought back from 12th at the start. He finished second in qualifying but was given a 10-place grid penalty after changing engines.
His teammate Carlos Sainz’ day was much worse. He started from pole position only to see Verstappen pass him with an explosive bolt off the line. Then Sainz was beaten by Mercedes’ George Russell in the first elevated switchback, and his race was effectively over. The damage forced him to leave the race at the end of the first lap.
MERCEDES WITHOUT VICTORY
Hamilton is getting ever closer to a winless season, which would be the first in his 16-year career. The seven-time champion has 103 career wins but has only reached the podium seven times this season as Mercedes have struggled. He finished eight times behind teammate George Russell in races they both finished.
SCARY CRASH
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso were involved in the scariest crash of the day. The cars were in the fastest sector of the track on the long straight and were reaching top speed when Stroll shifted his car slightly to the left as Alonso passed.
Their tire clamp and Alonso’s car did a wheelie and nearly took off as Stroll spun and two cars crossed the gap between them. Neither driver was injured, but Stroll’s car was eliminated from the race. Amazingly, he also recovered his car with end-to-end shredding in his garage and was still able to finish seventh.
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