After a trying and emotional time for Red Bull a win for Max Verstappen at the US Grand Prix was surely the release he and his team required. He duly delivered to seal the constructors’ championship and dedicate his victory to the team’s founder and owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who died on Saturday. Yet it was far from straightforward and a timely reminder of how much the challenge from Lewis Hamilton, who was second, has been missed this year.
Verstappen, already champion this season, took the victory he and the team craved in a style indicative of just how strong their car has been There was clearly a very personal satisfaction in winning on the weekend when it was announced Mateschitz had died at the age of 78. That he had to fight for it, it seems, pleased Verstappen even more when he paid tribute to Mateschitz.
