Red Bull finally rising into the form expected when the Formula One season began
Max Verstappen and teammate Daniel Ricciardo are primed to keep pushing for the front over the final four races of the season
But a late burst over the last two races delivered his second career victory and a second-place. Those results have Red Bull rising and looking more like the fast and muscular team it was expected to be.
“We’re definitely going the way we need to be going,” Ricciardo said. “If we start on the front foot, I genuinely believe we can fight for the title if we start closer. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
While Ricciardo has been a workhorse with nine podiums and one victory, Verstappen’s season was crippled by reliability issues with his car or crashes.
“There were so many races this year when he was in a fantastic position to achieve big results,” team principle Christian Horner said this week. “Credit to him that at such a young age he hasn’t let frustration boil over ... when it comes right for him, it’s going to come right in a big way. And that’s exactly what happened in Malaysia. He drove a great race there, with no issues.”
Some of the “issues” created internal tension.
The first lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix was a disaster for Red Bull. Verstappen tried to overtake Ricciardo and hit him, knocking Ricciardo out of the race while Verstappen finished fifth. Ricciardo lashed out at Verstappen as “immature” and criticised the “amateur” manoeuvre.
“That frustration I put behind me,” Verstappen said. “It happened. You can’t change it any more. You’re just happy that it’s going well again and we had some good results.”
Ricciardo has carried Red Bull to the podium time and again but his broad smile hasn’t beamed from the top spot since Azerbaijan in June. Despite his run of strong finishes, he’s stuck at fourth in the driver’s standings and needs a boost to overtake Mercedes’ Valtierri Bottas for third.
The Circuit of the Americas has been good for both Red Bull drivers in the past. Ricciardo finished third here in 2014 and 2016. Verstappen had an attention-grabbing drive in 2015 when he finished fourth in his Toro Rosso after sloshing his way through the field on a wet track.
Verstappen had a wild race in 2016 when he challenged for the lead early, came in for a pit stop when the crew wasn’t ready and yelled to his garage “I’m not here to finish fourth!” He didn’t finish at all when his car was knocked out with a gear box problem on lap 32.
Verstappen was 17 when he joined the F1 grid as the youngest driver in series history and he still jokes about his age. Austin is known for its live music and nightlife, but he’s limited as to how much he can party away from the track.
“I’m only 20. I can’t drink,” Verstappen said. “If I’m on the podium (Sunday) I won’t care.”