Verstappen dedicates Austin victory to Mateschitz

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Max Verstappen dedicated his victory in today's United States Grand prix to the memory of Red Bull co-owner and founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who passed away on Saturday aged 78 after a long illness.

Verstappen had already clinched this year's drivers championship in Suzuka, but his victory at the Circuit of the Americas meant that Red Bull were crowned constructors championship for the first time since 2013.

But even though he was once again the class of the field in Austin, Verstappen was forced to work for his victory this week after a rare fumble in the pit lane by the team.

Read also: Verstappen beats Hamilton in Austin, Red Bull clinches title

Verstappen took the lead at the start of the race from polesitter Carlos Sainz who was spun out by contact with George Russell. he looked in control of the race from that point on and looked to be cruising to the win.

But a problem with a wheel gun on the front left tyre in his final stop cost him around nine seconds stuck in the pit box, and it dropped him behind Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

It meant Verstappen had to work hard to recover the dropped spots in the laps remaining.

"It was a tough one," he told the media in parc ferme after the finish.. "It was all looking good, but then the pit stop was a bit longer than we would have liked.

"I had to fight my way forward again, but we gave it everything out there today," he continued. "If you pass on a corner, you can come back on the next. It's really enjoyable to drive here.

"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."

Verstappen's victory puts the constructors title beyond doubt. Ferrari needed to outscore Red Bull by 19 points this weekend to keep the fight alive.

Instead, Ferrari dropped a further 22 points behind after Verstappen's win and Sergio Perez finishing in fourth just behind Charles Leclerc following Sainz' first lap retirement.

"We had a big chance to win the constructors' here. Of course, you want to do that in style, and I think we did that today."

But the celebrations were somewhat muted because of Mateschitz' passing. "It's a very difficult weekend for us, so this is dedicated to Dietrich, for what he has done for everyone," Verstappen said.

He added that he was sure his mentor would have enjoyed today's race and would have got a kick out of seeing Red Bull crowned world champions after a nine year gap since their last success.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.