Red Bull ‘back racing’ as Max Verstappen delivers ‘like old times’ performance

It was like the Max Verstappen and Red Bull of old in the Austin F1 Sprint, the Championship leader declaring “we’re racing again”.

Not since June’s Spanish Grand Prix has Verstappen experienced victory in Formula 1, but the United States GP Sprint offered a golden opportunity for Verstappen to return to winning ways from pole. Verstappen delivered, driving his upgraded RB20 from pole to Sprint victory.

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With title rival Lando Norris forced to settle for P3, having been passed late on by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Verstappen was able to reverse the trend by extending his F1 2024 Championship lead over Norris from 52 to 54 points, having seen Norris whittle down his lead to spark hope of a title challenge.

However, Verstappen’s reaction to his US GP F1 Sprint win carried ominous tones.

Asked how it felt in the RB20 having looked in complete control, Verstappen replied: “It was not too bad! Yeah. It feels a bit like old times.

“Yeah, I’m very happy with today. I think, of course, if you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick, but I think for us, finally, we’re racing again.

“Normally in the race, we’re always looking back behind us, but now we could just do our own race and yeah, we had good pace.”

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That makes it 11 of F1’s Sprint races won for Verstappen, so asked where this Sprint specialist streak comes from, Verstappen quipped: “Probably because I don’t like it!”

An F1 Sprint weekend offers just the one hour of practice for teams to get their setups sorted for the Sprint action, Verstappen reasoning Red Bull have done a good job with this process.

Asked what it would be like if he did like the F1 Sprint races, Verstappen replied: “I don’t know. I mean, it’s, of course, always a very hectic weekend like this, you know, to get the car in the right window.

“But luckily, the last few times that we had a sprint that I think the car was in a good window.

“So, yeah, it’s a bit more pressure on delivering, but luckily it’s working out for us.”

Should Verstappen secure his fourth title in F1 2024, it would see him match Sebastian Vettel’s streak of four consecutive titles with Red Bull, which the German pulled off between 2010-13.

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