Red Bull have now been further testing their new Renault engine which is predicted will bridge the 0.4-0.5 seconds a lap deficit to Ferrari, leaving the leading Mercedes vehicle a further half-second ahead. He couldn’t believe his luck during the last ten laps when he was already leading the race, and felt they all did what was best for their team.
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But with Red Bull appearing to be the second-best team here behind the sport’s all-conquering Mercedes team, there is a real chance Verstappen could emulate his father Jos Verstappen by finishing on the podium.
In Verstappen’s case, victory came in his first grand prix with Red Bull, having also spent just over one season with Toro Rosso.
Their duel at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona only happened after an extraordinary opening lap that saw championship leader Nico Rosberg clash with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in turn 3, forcing Hamilton on to the grass, and both spinning out of the race.
The 18-year-old became the youngest victor of a grand prix – beating the mark set by Vettel – in his first race for Red Bull, having been promoted from sister team Toro Rosso as a replacement for Daniil Kvyat.
“We were all getting tense with five laps to go because the tyres were at the end of their life”. Most of the pre-race buzz centered around the young and talented driver, but he still had to compete with the two Mercedes titans ahead of him, as well as his teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
“It feels wonderful. I can not believe it”, said Verstappen, the son of former racer Jos.
“Max is a serious F1 driver, and that’s really good for me”.
“It didn’t make sense”, he added of the decision to switch to a three-stop strategy after Ferrari had done so with Vettel. Sure I’m bitter right now.
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Verstappen’s extraordinary achievement in Spanish GP has also seen him break the previous record held by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was aged 21 only when he won the Italian Grand Prix in 2008. “At that point in the race it was far from obvious which was the quicker route to go and we felt Vettel, as the biggest opponent, we would take him on with Ricciardo”, he said of the strategy. We tested a lot of things.
