Max Verstappen dedicated his United States Grand Prix victory to the memory of Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of Red Bull who sadly passed away last weekend.
Mateschitz died aged seventy-eight on Saturday and was an instrumental part in Verstappen’s career, the Dutchman joining one of his two teams – Scuderia Toro Rosso – in 2015 before switching to the other – Oracle Red Bull Racing – in 2016.
Verstappen was in control of the race at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday until a slow pit stop relegated him to third, but he made decisive overtakes on both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, arguably his biggest rivals of the past two years, to retake the lead and win for a record-equalling thirteenth time in 2022.
“It was a tough one,” Verstappen is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “It was all looking good, but then the pit stop was a bit longer than we would have liked, so I had to fight my way forward again. But we gave it everything out there today.
“Of course it’s a very difficult weekend for us, so this is dedicated to Dietrich, for what he has done for everyone.
“The only thing we could do today was win, and even though after the pit stop, it was not looking great, I gave it everything out there and pushed to the limit to get back.
“You really wanted to have a good result today, and this feels amazing.”
Verstappen’s victory and Sergio Pérez’s fourth place finish ensured Red Bull left the Circuit of the Americas as the 2022 Constructors’ Champions, the first time in the turbo hybrid era that the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team has not held this mantle.
And Verstappen felt his drive to victory in the United States was a good way to secure the Constructor’s crown, two weeks after the Dutchman himself clinched the Drivers’ title.
“We had a big chance to win the constructors’ here,” said Verstappen. “Of course, you want to do that in style, and I think we did that today.”