AUSTIN, Texas – Max Verstappen edged Lewis Hamilton late to a record 13th win of the season at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, and took home a win in memory of Team Red’s founder and owner Bull Dietrich Mateschitz.
Verstappen’s race was almost completed by a rare slow pit stop by Red Bull in the middle of the race that left him far behind Hamilton. But Verstappen fought back to overtake last season’s opponent for the championship in round 50 of 56.
Verstappen then had to hold Hamilton through the final laps when his team warned him not to exceed the track limit for a penalty.
Winning as a relief for Red Bull. The team announced just before qualifying on Saturday that Mateschitz had passed away at the age of 78. Verstappen swore he would give everything to get the win in his honor.
Victory continued Verstappen’s dominance into 2022. He had won the season championship in Japan two weeks earlier. Sunday’s win tied him with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for most of a season with three races still to go.
Since its inception, Red Bull has won six driving championships and five assistor titles. Verstappen’s win won the team this season’s championship
Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire who co-founded the Red Bull global energy drink empire, bought the Jaguar team in 2004 and renamed it Red Bull in 2005. He added a second team to the Red Bull stable when acquire the Minardi program. Toro Rosso in 2006 to become a program to train younger drivers. That team is now Alpha Tauri.
The team brought a teenage Verstappen into its racing program and promoted him F1 in 2015 when he was just 17 years old, with the hope that he could become the youngest champion in the history of the sport. Mercedes’ dominance in 2014-2020 has prevented that.
But Mateschitz, who was said to be ill for months and died aged 78, lived long enough to see Verstappen win two championships and start another era of dominance for the team he founded. .
F1 held a brief memorial service in Mateschitz’s honor before the race. Large signs of “Danke Didi” (Thank You Didi) were posted on video screens and Vettel, who has won four championships with Red Bull and is now racing Aston Martin, seemed to be holding back tears.
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