AUSTIN, Texas — Winning a Formula One championship is always an emotional moment, but Red Bull’s fifth constructors’ crown carried added significance on Sunday.
The death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz the day before meant the team was determined to win the title in his honour. And to secure it with a hard-fought victory after Max Verstappen recovered from a slow final pit stop to overtake Lewis Hamilton for the lead five laps from the finish seemed like the most fitting tribute the team could pay.
“It was almost as if it had been scripted for him to have to come back through the field,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race.
“I think Dietrich would have quite enjoyed that race, from above, to see us overtake a Mercedes with 5-6 laps to go to win the constructors championship. I think he would have been very proud about that race today.”
Before the race, a minute’s applause rather than a minute’s silence was held in Mateschitz’s honour. All the drivers who have come through Red Bull’s driver programme — from the current Red Bull and AlphaTauri drivers to Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, who all got their break in F1 with Red Bull’s junior team — stood towards the front of the grid to pay their respects.
Red Bull opted against wearing black armbands at the circuit and instead paid a unique tribute by wearing blue jeans in line with Mateschitz’s trademark look. Above all else, the team was determined to celebrate Mateschitz’s life on Sunday, and that culminated in an emotional moment by the podium as Verstappen celebrated victory.
“Dietrich is such a giant of a man and has done so much, not just for Red Bull Racing but for Formula One, and so we felt determined to go out and really honour him in a way that would make him proud,” Horner added. “There were no black armbands, no minute’s silence — it was the embodiment of celebrating him, and the best way to do that was the performance on circuit.”
The result secured Red Bull not only the race victory but also its first constructors’ championship since 2013. The size of the second achievement is huge. It brings an end to Mercedes’ domination of F1, which dates back to the introduction of the turbo-hybrid engine formula in 2014, and marks the return of Red Bull as Formula One’s undisputed top team. It could also hail the start of a new era of domination for Red Bull, given the dominance the team…
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