2023-09-24 08:05:56
ESPN.comSep 24, 2023, 5:05 PM Reading: 4 min.
Dietrich Mateschitz founded the Red Bull company in 1984, following discovering the drink on a business trip to Asia, with an initial investment of $500,000. The Austrian, born in Styria in 1944, during the last throes of the Second World War, has always believed that extreme sports and motorsports, a passion, were ideal tools to promote his brand. The first contact with Formula 1 came as a sponsor of another Austrian, Gerhard Berger. Little by little, the company became more and more involved in the world of F1 until a unique possibility arose at the end of 2004: Ford did not want to continue in the category and practically finished off the Jaguar team. Mateschitz, neither dull nor lazy, embraced the possibility and for a symbolic sum of money he stayed with the Milton Keynes team to debut in 2005 as Red Bull, with Christian Horner as director. The success was not immediate, far from it. He rowed quite a bit until the era of glory and titles with Sebastian Vettel began. Then came the hegemony of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, to return to the top with a driver destined to occupy a place on Olympus: Max Verstappen. And the Dutchman’s triumph in Japan gave Red Bull the sixth Constructors’ crown in history.
Max Verstappen and Christian Horner celebrate on the Suzuka podium.Getty Images
As expected from Friday’s tests, the two-time champion had no rivals on the Japanese track, where the 17th round of the 74th year of Formula 1 was held. season being experienced by Star+ (does not include Mexico). The Dutchman only experienced a slight heat at the start, due to the good start of Lando Norris from third place, who managed to match him. But it was just a glimpse, because Verstappen withstood the onslaught and the rest was a real walk. There were no complications and Red Bull returned to the top, as it has all year, except in Singapore, which will probably be remembered in time as the freckle in the overwhelming performance of the RB19 in 2023.
“It’s been an incredible weekend and winning here is great. The car was working very well with all the compounds. I may have slipped the tire at the start, but following that it was pretty easy,” said Verstappen, who is on the verge of adding his name to the list of Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. all the three-time champions that Formula 1 has in its history.
The title that was resolved was the team title for Red Bull, the sixth in its history (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022 and 2023). “The most important thing was to win the Constructors’ championship. I am very proud of the entire team, who works here on the track and also in the factory. The season has been incredible so far,” said Max. But, also, the team energy drinks has already secured its seventh drivers’ crown, because with six dates still to be played, only the drivers of the Austrian squad have a chance of being crowned. Verstappen, with his success, took 177 points from his teammate Checo Pérez (of terrible race, which ended in abandonment), when there are 180 left at stake. The next appointment will be in Qatar and will have a sprint race, therefore, it is very possible that the Dutchman will celebrate his third conquest on Saturday in Losail. Once the sprint is over, there will be 172 units in dispute, as it is, the Mexican should win the short race and Max finish seventh or worse. The fantasy world is in Disney, not in Formula 1…
JAPAN GP RESULT
The World Cup has been over for a while. Carlos Sainz may take the medal of honor for having won the only race of 2023 that was not dyed Red Bull. The celebration of the Austrians was almost total in Suzuka. It was not complete due to the poor performance of Pérez, who had a day to forget. He started badly, which left him involved in a touch, following taking on Kevin Magnussen in an unusual way, more damage to the RB19 and abandonment. Just a little more time on the track, following several laps in the pits, served only to serve a five-second penalty and not take it in his backpack to Qatar. Christian Horner did not hesitate to highlight the importance of the man from Guadalajara in the Constructors’ title. And it is true, his points were key for the conquest to come so early. It is also true that Verstappen only got 95 points from all of Mercedes, second in the team tournament.
Verstappen will be champion in Qatar. What remains to be resolved for the 2023 World Cup? The Constructors’ runners-up promises a neck-and-neck battle between the Silver Arrows and Ferrari (the Germans are 20 points ahead). And also the runner-up of drivers, the place that Checo should not miss. It is Red Bull’s ultimate wish, to achieve something that he has never achieved: 1-2 in the drivers’ World Championship. Pérez leads Lewis Hamilton by 33 points. Anything else? Find out if Max will break the record of 15 hits in a season. Everything seems to indicate that he will achieve it.
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