Both the driver and the team overcame self-inflicted race drama to chase down Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to win Sunday.
“I think this is a race he would love to see,” Verstappen said of the victory, which came a day after it was announced by the team, the Austrian billionaire co-founder of Red Bull Energy Drinks global empire. The founder, had died at the age of 78. ,
The Red Bull team was told shortly before Saturday’s qualifying that Mateschitz had died, and Verstappen vowed he would give everything it took to secure a win to honor him.
“The only thing we could do today,” Verstappen said, “was victory.”
Still, it was a relief to see the checkered flag.
Verstappen’s race was almost undone when a rare slow pit stop – 11 seconds lost by a tricky change of the front left tire – left him well behind and behind Hamilton.
“Beautiful,” Verstappen said on team radio.
He then chased down the championship rival of the previous season and passed him on lap 50 of 56. Verstappen had to stop the troubled Hamilton through the final laps, and both drivers were warned not to exceed the track limit which would incur a penalty.
“It’s definitely dedicated to Dietrich,” Verstappen said. “I pushed it to the limit of coming back.”
Hamilton said he simply cannot stop charging Red Bull.
“It felt amazing even within shooting distance of Max at certain points in the race,” Hamilton said. “For a second, I thought we might catch it… He came from a very, very long time ago.”
The victory continued Verstappen’s dominance in 2022.
They had won their second consecutive season championship in Japan just two weeks earlier. Texas’ victory was number 13 this year, leaving Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013) still with the most three races in a season.
Since its inception, Red Bull has won six drivers’ championships and five constructors’ titles.
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