RACE REPORT
All those cars – but nobody can get near
It’s becoming monotonous... Mark Hughes revisits the latest Max Verstappen victories and the ‘race’ for second spot
Left: Max Verstappen led at the Red Bull Ring from the start.
For a team in the midst of setting new Formula 1 records, Red Bull had quite a few headaches to deal with in this part of the season – and they all centred around drivers. Not Max Verstappen, who continued to bulldoze the 2023 championship with victories at Austria, Silverstone and the Hungaroring, the latter win ensuring the team has beaten McLaren’s long-standing record of 11 on the trot. But within the four Red Bull seats between its senior and junior team AlphaTauri, there was a real concern about the performances in two of them.
Red Bull is not an entity with much patience for under-delivery. It funds drivers through the categories all the way to F1.
When they get to the junior team they need to show the stuff of potential champions. If not, then they’ll be passed over. Dr Helmut Marko oversees this tough process, but in close partnership with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
There are not all that many potential world champions around. So it’s only logical that the turnover of young drivers is high.
Carlos Sainz was handed a 10sec time penalty in Austria.
Below: Pérez, right, started 15th
FORMULA 1 VIA GETTY IMAGES, FERRARI
If you were at Silverstone, you needed a Lando Norris bucket hat – even Lando Norris was wearing one
There is always a megastar in one Red Bull, be that Sebastian Vettel or Verstappen (and Daniel Ricciardo in between). But often this high turnover has meant there has been no obvious candidate to slot alongside the megastar. Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were all promising young guns promoted very quickly to that seat and in each case they were unable to deliver even an adequate support-driver role. Hence in a break from their usual policy, Red Bull employed a seasoned old pro, Sergio Pérez, to fill that high-pressure seat, while they waited for the next would-be champion.