2021 UNITED STATES GP

RED BULL RB16B STARTED 1st

The pressure factor in many of Verstappen’s best F1 wins flows through this list. He rocked up at Austin after a run of three races without a win since delivering in the face of heavy pressure of a different kind – in front of his home crowd at the first Dutch GP since 1985. The Monza crash with Lewis Hamilton followed, then the Russian and Turkish GPS went to Mercedes.

In Turkey, Red Bull getting its set-up wrong for optimal tyre use had been a critical factor, but in Texas it aced its decisions, with Mercedes forced into running a higher-than-ideal ride height due to the track’s fearsome bumps. The hot conditions all weekend also boosted the RB16B, while the Mercedes W12 tended to struggle more on the Pirellis when the temperatures climbed.

But the heat amplified another element of why this win was good from Verstappen. He “didn’t feel well – I had all sorts of trouble going on”. Team boss Christian Horner opens up on an illness that also impacted Sergio Perez: “Max was so sick, he was starting to have double vision at some points.”

In the race, Verstappen blew the start from pole as Hamilton got forcefully ahead at Turn 1, and was lucky that it was Perez behind to avoid dropping to third at Turn 2. But then Red Bull made two aggressive pitstop calls, helped by Perez’s early presence meaning Hamilton couldn’t go really long in the first stint, before the Mexican’s battle with the illness dropped him back. These undercut Verstappen back ahead, and set up a thrilling chase for the win as his rival recovered with a tyre life advantage.

And this is where the pressure factor really tells, as Verstappen learned from caning his secondstint hards too early. He kept enough life in his next set that he was able to hold off Hamilton’s charge. “The way in which he managed those tyres and soaked up the pressure from Lewis,” says Horner. “That was truly outstanding.”

But why is it Verstappen’s top pick? Well, as he says, “we were not supposed to win that one…”