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ChapterOne–TheStartofSomethingBeautiful,Possibly…
As a Team you go into every season with a mix of fear and hope. Hope that the thousands of precisely plotted designs and months of meticulous planning result in a car that lights up the timesheets. And fear that, in the absence of the constant in-season reference point of where your rivals are halting the stopwatch, you’ve missed a trick.
In 2022, faced with a massive regulation rewrite, a totally clean-sheet design and with a Drivers’ title to defend, those hopes and fears are heading towards the limiter.
The RB18 is a radically different beast and to launch our new era we go equally radical, handing control to fans around the world in a globally streamed reveal.
The Unveiling Of The RB18© Getty Images
Smashing it on the internet doesn’t buy lap time, though, and after a low-key filming day at Silverstone it’s time to properly put the new machine through its paces in pre-season testing.
In Barcelona, Max and Checo pound out more than 350 laps. No showboating, no glory runs, just painstaking data gathering and troubleshooting. We’re up and running reliably but it’s at the final test, two weeks later in Bahrain, that the covers properly come off. On the final day, just a week ahead of FP1 for the season opener, we reveal bold changes to the floor and sidepods and Max powers the RB18 to P1, almost seven tenths clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
A Productive Weekend In Barcelona© Getty Images
The champ is playing his cards close to his chest, though. “No one gives full beans or goes to qualifying spec at testing, so we can’t read too much into the timing screens,” he says.
He's right to keep a lid on expectation and no one’s getting ahead of themselves but the mood in the garage is upbeat. Bring it on.
At the opening round in Bahrain, however, the positivity evaporates as fast as the fuel in Max’s RB18. After qualifying on the front row, the Dutchman and Ferraris Charles Leclerc battle for lead in the opening laps of the race, both attacking and counter-attacking for the lead.
Leclerc manages to hang on but looks like Max has the pace to eventually get past. And then it all goes wrong. The champion begins to suffer steering problems and to make matters worse on lap 55 he boxes to retire with a vapour lock in the fuel system.
The agony is compounded when Checo falls victim to the same issue a lap away from a podium finish. It’s a bitter blow but it’s an early season risk. We’ll solve the issues and go again in a week – at fearsomely fast Jeddah.
A Less Than Favourable Start To The Season© Getty Images
A Race To Forget© Getty Images
The fuel system glitch has been thoroughly investigated, there’s no fear of a repeat in Saudi Arabia and in qualifying Checo puts in a storming lap to claim a brilliant career-first pole.
The race isn’t kind to the Mexican, though, and an ill-timed VSC early on drops him to third. Leclerc sneaks through to lead the race but once again Max hunts down the Ferrari and in the final laps he goes on the offensive.
Things Are Starting To Look Up In Saudi© Getty Images
The result is breath-taking, as the rivals trade blows across five laps of epic cat-and-mouse combat. On lap 47 Max gets his claws out for the final time, and he powers past the Ferrari to claim an awesome first win of the season.
“We’reGonnaNeedMoreRaces”
Buoyed by the result in Jeddah, the Team makes the marathon trek to Melbourne with confidence high but just as in Bahrain, Sunday delivers a vicious sucker punch.
Max starts from the front row again, but any hope of doubling down on the result in Jeddah stalls after 38 laps when he’s forced to retire with a fuel issue unrelated to the ones in Sakhir. Leclerc take win number two and the standings have an ugly look to them. Leclerc has 71 points, Max just 25 with Checo five points ahead of his team-mate.
“This is not what you need when you want to fight for the Championship, the gap is already pretty big,” Max says afterwards. “It is of course a long season and a lot can happen [but] I think at this stage we need 45 races!”
Could he be right? We know the performance is in the car, but there are problems to solve. The technical issues are hurting and beyond that we’re now aware that the RB18 is one of the heavier cars on the grid. There’s a lot of work to do. But can any of it pay off ahead of the next round? There are just 14 days until Imola and we’ve got a mountain to climb…
Disappointment Down Under© Getty Images
ChapterTwo–WinningMachine
The trip back from Melbourne is incredibly long. When the race was back-to back and paired with Bahrain, or back in the day with Malaysia, the distances involved didn’t feel so enormous. But as a standalone, it’s a seriously long haul.
All of which gives us plenty of time for analysis. The first three races have been a roller coaster ride. Double DNF in Bahrain, victory in Saudi Arabia, a little bit more agony in Australia. There’s no telling what will come at the next round in Imola, but we do know that while the race team is in the air, the work to bring more performance to the car continues at the factory.
The major work involves putting the RB18 on a diet. The minimum weight for a car this season is 798kg and while most of the grid has failed to hit that mark – principally due to some new safety features and bigger, heavier tyres – we think we’re at the upper end on the scales. That means we’ve got to slim the RB18 down and for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix we’re bringing some lighter components. We’ve also made a few changes to the floor so hopefully we’ll have a bit of an edge in Imola.
ClassicTrack,ClassicPerformance
The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is one of those tracks that just oozes history. For a start it’s bang in the centre of the town, which makes it feel like racing is part of the DNA of the place. And when you head out to the back part of the circuit from the Varianta Alta to the two Rivazzas at the end of the lap you realise it’s really residential and there are always loads of people watching from their balconies, although all of them have draped Ferrari flags over them…
This year Imola’s also hosting the first Sprint race of the year and with the new bits onboard we’re confident. And in the 21-lap race they prove their worth. Starting from pole Max is passed by Leclerc at the start but eventually the Ferrari driver’s tyres begin to grain and fade and at the end of lap 19 Max closes in, gets a better exit out of the second Rivazza and after a DRS drag towards Tamburello, he passes Leclerc to take the sprint win in the first chicane.
And it only gets better on Sunday. Starting from pole, Max delivers a flawless performance to claim the second grand slam of his career with pole position, fastest lap and race victory after leading every lap of the race. Checo adds to the dominance by finishing in P2, sealing the Team’s first one-two finish since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Getting Into Our Stride© Getty Images
We head home with a maximum points haul of 58, a couple of trophies and the certain feeling that we’re back on track .
Through The Lens: 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
One Sunday In Imola© Vladimir Rys
The Team Welcome Our Boys Across The Line© Vladimir Rys
From Rain To Champagne Showers© Vladimir Rys
Another Trophy For The Case Back In Milton Keynes© Vladimir Rys
Max Charging On In P1© Vladimir Rys
The Dream Duo© Vladimir Rys
A Weekend To Remember For The Bulls© Vladimir Rys
The Sun Shining Down On Checo© Vladimir Rys
The contrast between Imola and the next could not be more stark. After the old school charm of Imola, we head to the showbiz glitz of F1’s brand new Miami Grand Prix.
It’s a remarkable circuit. Snaking around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, they’ve somehow managed to carve out a workable race track in a very tight space – and even though it’s several kilometres from the ocean front, they’ve still managed to build a marina here, complete with real boats moored in fake water. It’s bonkers .
Taking To Miami In Style© Getty Images
Once you’re in the garage, though, it’s business as usual and after acing it in Imola, Max throws it down again in Miami.
Max sets up the win at the race start. Polesitter Leclerc gets away well but Max, starting from P3 reacts just as well and in Turn 1 he muscles his way past second-placed Carlos Sainz. It doesn’t take him long to line up an attack on Leclerc and on lap 9 he blasts past in Turn 1 to take the lead.
A late Safety Car hands Leclerc a chance to put the pressure on Max, but the Dutchman is at his brilliant best and with better straight-line speed he’s able to shrug off every attack to take a superb third win of the year.
We feel like we’re hitting our stride now. The improvements we’ve made are working well and even though there’s no such thing as the traditional big upgrade for the Spanish Grand Prix anymore we are happy with progress.
We’ve made some good gains on weight-waving and now we have more options when it comes to moving ballast around the car and that’s helping us dial out a peaky front end that was not to Max’s liking. He’s more comfortable now and it’s showing.
Max takes victory number four and, for the first time, the championship lead, in Barcelona. Checo follows his team-mate across the line to seal the Team’s second 1-2 finish of the season so far.
Making Memories© Getty Images
It’s not all plain sailing though. Max’s race is hampered by an early spin that drops him to fourth place, and then by a faulty DRS that keeps him behind Mercedes’ George Russell for much of the first half of the race. But when race leader Leclerc suffers a power unit failure on lap 27, Max is there to mop up the points.
Consistency is the key to any championship charge. It’s a marathon, not a sprint and you’ve got to score big points regularly. We’ve had our share of technical glitches and this latest DRS one is frustrating, but we’re no longer exiting races. We’re there at the finish and we’re winning. The omens are good .
Through The Lens: 2022 Spanish Grand Prix
Something Funny, Lads?© Vladimir Rys
The Pit Crew Doing What They Do Best© Vladimir Rys
Our Favourite Mexican On The Charge In Spain© Vladimir Rys
Jumping For Joy (Literally)© Vladimir Rys
1, 2, 3...Run© Vladimir Rys
Jüri Is All Smiles After His First Laps In F1© Vladimir Rys
The Team In The Garage Watch On The Edge Of Their Seats© Vladimir Rys
The Dream Team© Vladimir Rys
Champagne Showers Once Again© Vladimir Rys
A Weekend That Proved Those Golden Boots Are Well Deserved© Vladimir Rys
Monaco. The jewel in the crown. The most iconic race on the calendar. It’s all of those amazing things, but it’s also a really tricky race to work at for the Team. The garage is a long way from the paddock and though they’ve done a good job to upgrade all the facilities, the garage is a tight squeeze, you’re disconnected from the Energy Station – which is floating in the harbour – and the trucks are even further away, right down by the yacht club near the harbour wall.
That doesn’t mean it’s not an awesome weekend. It always is. Nowhere else can replicate the atmosphere of Monaco. For anyone who isn’t trying to win a race it’s a fabulous playground and there are plenty of places to play – with the Energy Station’s traditional Saturday party taking centre stage.
On track though, Max has a rare off weekend and after qualifying third on Saturday he admits that “pace this weekend has been a bit of a struggle, I never really found the perfect balance.”
It leaves the door open for Checo, who hits a rich seam of performance throughout. It’s not perfect – he loses control at Portier, hits the barriers and brings out the red flags in Q3, but on Sunday there’s no stopping the Mexican.
The team is equally brilliant, reacting to the damp, slippery conditions with a perfectly judged call for the boys to move to inters and then choosing the right time to switch those for slick tyres. The choices are the key to Checo’s race, and push him into the lead. Another red flag sees both Bulls move to medium tyres and though Checo suffers with tyre wear late on he's able to hang on for a brilliant first Monaco win. “You don't win Monaco many times in your life so the first one is very special," he says.
Checo’s heroics (and a new two-year deal with the team) keep him at the top of the news cycle for a while but by the time we get to Baku, Max is back in the groove. The Bulls score another 1-2 finish as both Ferrari drivers fail to finish. The result vaults the Team to the top of the Constructors’ standings too.
There’s more to come in Montreal, where Max delivers one of his best weekends of the season so far. He takes a dominant sixth victory of the season resisting strong pressure from Carlos Sainz after a Safety Car erases the gap between the two drivers in the closing stages of the 70-lap race. It was a disappointing Sunday for Checo, though, with the Mexican driver retiring from the race after seven laps with a suspected gearbox issue.
For Max, the Montreal win has added significance. He left the race in Melbourne staring down the barrel of a 46-point deficit. By the time he’s buckling up for the flight home from Montreal, the deficit has been erased and he’s got a 46-point advantage at the top of the table.
You can never take anything for granted in F1, though, and at Round 10, just up the road from the factory, at Silverstone. Checo manages to battle his way to the flag in second place behind first-time winner Carlos Sainz, despite front wing damage early in the race, but Max’s race is even more heavily compromised.
The Dutchman damages his floor early in the race and though he tells his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase the car is “100% broken”, GP is sure he’ll make it to the flag. He does but with heavily reduced downforce he struggles for competitiveness and finishes seventh.
Checo’s excellent P2 notwithstanding, Silverstone hasn’t been our finest weekend. The good news though is there’s just a week until the next round and it’s at a place we’ve bossed for a few seasons now – our home track, the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Max is in imperious form in the early stages of the weekend, grabbing a brilliant pole position and then utterly dominating the second Sprint of the year to look good for win number four in the Styrian hills .
It’s not to be though and he narrowly misses out on the win, losing to Leclerc by just 1.5s at the end of a strategically tense race. But while Max does bank 19 points for P2 and the fastest lap, there’s no joy at all for Checo, as he’s forced out of the race after just 25 laps due to damage sustained in a lap-one collision with Mercedes’ George Russell.
“We were just a bit too slow today, we were doing the best we could with the strategy but the Ferraris were extremely fast,” Max says. “But although we didn't win today, we still walked away with a lot of points. In difficult moments you need to score points and we did that today.”
Two races without a win. There’s no denying that after six wins on the bounce from Imola to Montreal we were getting used to being on the top step, but we’re not despondent. As Max says, we banked big points again. Our rivals have had a mini revival and we just to make sure it stays that way – mini. We’ve got two races to go until the summer break. We’ve got to get back to winning ways in France…
ChapterFour–IrresistibleForce
The last couple of rounds haven’t gone our way and though we’re still in control of both championships there’s a nagging sensation that we need to get back on the top step as soon as possible. And the next two weekends, a double-header that will take us from Paul Ricard to the Hungaroring offer the perfect opportunity.
Max dominated last year’s race in France and Hungary’s twists and turns have always been a place at which we’ve profited so we’ve got a good feeling about this.
There are rumours that this year’s French Grand Prix might be the last for a while, which is a shame as the area around the track is absolutely amazing and even though the track sits on top of a dusty plateau, it is one of the most picturesque regions we visit.
Not that there’s much time to enjoy Provence’s fabulous food and wine. Ferrari have rediscovered their form in recent weeks and here again they’re quick from the off. Charles Leclerc heads FP1 and Sain goes quickest in the afternoon. Max dials back any confidence they might have by setting the pace in FP3, but in qualifying they’re on top again as Sainz (who’s taking a PU penalty) tows Leclerc to pole. Max grabs P2 though and Checo’s in third, so we’re in good shape.
But Sunday doesn’t unfold quite like we thought it would. There’s a good early battle for the lead between Max and Charles but the Ferrari driver holds on and starts to build a gap. We’re busy on the pit wall plotting a way past with an undercut when, on lap 18, everything changes.
Leclerc’s heading into Le Beausset when suddenly the back end of his car steps out and he’s off and into the barriers. It’s game over for the Ferrari driver and Max sails through unchallenged to take a massive win as Checo finishes fourth.
No one’s taking anything for granted but after disappointment in Britain and Austria, confidence is sky high. Max now has a 63-point lead and the team is now 82 points clear of Ferrari. There’s a long way to go but as Max says “this is a lead we can’t give away.”
And in Budapest he proves just how much he means that. Qualifying is a disaster for the Team. It’s been clear for a few races now that the upgrades we’ve made to the RB18 have boosted performance but the handling is now less to Checo’s liking. He’s toiling away behind the scenes with the guys on his side of the garage to re-discover a comfort zone, but in Budapest he’s really suffering and goes out of qualifying in Q2, in 11th place.
There’s double trouble for the Team in Q3 as after a mistake on his opening run leaves him in P7 he’s hit with a mystery power loss ahead of his final flyer. He fails to make it across the line for a final lap and he qualifies in P10. On a track where overtaking has historically been tough and with wider, heavier cars this year, a recovery by the Bulls looks a tall order.
But it seems that script didn’t reach Max and in the race he’s on fire. He storms to victory, converting a perfectly paced two-stop strategy to finish almost eight second ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman had so much pace in hand that even a 360˚ spin after passing Leclerc couldn’t upset him and he simply powered past the Ferrari again to seal the win.
Race - Hungarian Grand Prix 2022
Nice Ride Lads© Getty Images
Maximum Focus Getting Ready For The Race© Getty Images
The Bulls Leading The Charge In Hungary© Getty Images
Sharing The Podium Again© Getty Images
Gold Boots On The Top Spot Again© Getty Images
A Quick Wave To The Fans Before The Race© Getty Images
Checo's Crew Before The Race Getting Hung(a)ry For Some Action© Getty Images
The Pit Bulls Spring Into Action© Getty Images
Egészségedre To The Hungarian Grand Prix!© Getty Images
Waiting For The Red Bull Shower...© Getty Images
“Nobody really expected this. But we said to each other that we have to remain calm before the race. And I think we did that. We made all the right calls in the race. We put the right tyres on the car. I think that was the most important thing today, to have the grip. And, yeah, slowly we were just moving forward.”
What a way to go into the break. Max is now 80-points clear of Leclerc and the Team is 97 ahead of Ferrari.
With the summer break over, we’re back in Belgium. Max knows he’s going to take a PU penalty here – but with overtaking possible and power needed, it’s a good place to do it – but it doesn’t faze him in the slightest and he’s unstoppable from the start.
He’s quick through the three practice sessions but in qualifying his pace is just phenomenal. He takes top spot with a whopping six tenths of a second in hand over Carlos Sainz. Max will drop to 15th on the grid for the race, so there’s still a lot of work to do but Checo’s also in good form and qualifies third.
Max’s 15th became 14th at the start when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsonoda was forced to start from the pit lane but even then it seems like the Dutchman had a proper Ardennes hill to climb. But Max has a habit of making molehills out of mountains and after an electrifying start he scythes through the order, rising to a podium spot inside the first 10 laps.
On lap 18 he takes the lead from Sainz and it’s job done. It’s a stunning victory and one that leaves second-placed Checo awestruck. “Max was on another planet today and so quick,” he says. He’s not wrong. It’s a sublime performance and an ideal way to start the second half of the season.
ChapterFive–Signed,Sealed,Delivered
We’re still enjoying our third 1-2 finish of the season, in Spa, while we’re getting set up at Zandvoort. Max’s home race is another sell out and we're expecting another riotous weekend by the seaside. We’re not disappointed – on race day Zandvoort is an ocean of orange smoke and jubilant Dutch fans.
And Max rewards them with a brilliant second win on home soil. He sneaks past Leclerc to take pole and in the early part of the race comfortably outpaces the Ferrari. There’s a worry late on when it emerges that Mercedes are one-stopping, but there’s no panic on the pit wall and Hannah Schmitz and the strategy crew, aided by flawless pace from Max, see off the threat for a famous win.
Through The Lens: 2022 Dutch Grand Prix
A Disappointing Start To The Weekend For Max© Vladimir Rys
Check Out That View© Vladimir Rys
The Orange Glow Of Holland© Vladimir Rys
Max Brings It Home (Literally)© Vladimir Rys
"You're Doing Amazing Sweetie"© Vladimir Rys
An Indescriba-bull Feeling© Vladimir Rys
Checo Driving In The Dunes© Vladimir Rys
The RB18 Magically Grows Some Feet© Vladimir Rys
That Winning Feeling© Vladimir Rys
Home Race Heroics From Our Dutchman© Vladimir Rys
Home Win Celebrations Hit Different© Vladimir Rys
A Couple More For The Trophy Cabinet Back In Milton Keynes© Vladimir Rys
There’s no real time to celebrate though as we pack down in double-quick time on Sunday night, ready to load the trucks up for the 1,200km drive to Monza where we need to start setting up on Monday afternoon.
Now to say that the track on the outskirts of Milan has been a bit of a bogey circuit for the Team would be an understatement. We have won there in the past – in 2011 and 2013 during Seb’s glory years – but since the dawn of the hybrid era we’ve always been a bit power-starved here. Not anymore.
This time the combination of RB18 chassis and RBPTH001 power unit is comfortably the class of the field. Max takes a five-place penalty for a fifth ICE but even though he biases set-up towards the race with a little more wing than his rivals he still manages to take a front-row place in quali just over a tenth behind Charles Leclerc.
That gives us plenty of hope for a good race and on Sunday, Max delivers another masterclass. He starts from seventh place but within two laps, a little less than 6km in fact, he’s up to third. From there Max added some superb tyre management to his phenomenal pace and he comfortably takes his 11th win of the season.
While Max makes it look easy in Monza, the race in Italy is trickier for Checo. Early struggles on medium tyres and then a brake fire leaves him sixth at the flag. Over a difficult summer he’s been on the podium just twice since Montreal. It hasn’t been an easy time for the Mexican but behind the scenes he’s been hard at work with his engineers looking for solutions, and in Singapore he solves the puzzle in emphatic style.
It's a stealthy rise, though, as in the build-up to the weekend all eyes are on Max. It’s our first visit to the Marina Bay circuit since 2019 and it’s also Max’s first chance to win the 2022 title. There are some permutations involved but basically if Max wins and outscores Leclerc by 22 points the title is his.
But on Saturday it all goes wrong when a fuel error means he can’t put in a final run and he qualifies in P8. Then on Sunday he has an anti-stall moment at the start, a lock-up and flat spot when trying to pass Lando Norris, and then has to recover from the rear of the field to finish seventh.
Checo, though, is in a league of his own in Singapore. After waiting almost an hour for torrential rain to abate, he aces the start from P2 and passes pole sitter Leclerc into Turn 1. From there the Mexican was simply sublime, beautifully managing two safety car restarts, perfectly timing the switch to slick medium tyres and then resisting intense pressure from Leclerc to take a brilliant fourth career victory.
“This is how we do it, man,” he says on the radio after crossing the line. “We shut our mouths and we work hard. This is the Mexican way.” For Max, meanwhile, the wait goes on – but not for long .
It’s been three years since we last visited Suzuka and it is good to be back. Miami might have had wall-to-wall celebs, Mexico might have brought the noise, but it’s just a joy to return to this legendary circuit and its beautifully bonkers fans.
But while you’re always guaranteed a fabulous welcome in Suzuka, you’re also always greeted by precocious weather and Max’s path to the title is complicated by the sort of rain Suzuka does so well – thunderous downpours that threaten to wash out the whole day.
Starting from pole in heavy rain, the Dutchman holds his lead at the start but the race was quickly red-flagged following a number of incidents after the start and with the weather worsening a long delay follows.
There’s a nervy wait but eventually the race resumes with a rolling start behind the Safety car. And when the SC leaves the track Max does what he does best – simply powering away from the rest of the field. He takes the chequered flag a remarkable 27-seconds ahead of Leclerc. Twenty-seven seconds in just 28 laps. Incredible.
The only thing we don’t know is whether he’s won the title. Shortened races have a complicated points system but essentially everyone thought Max would get 19 points for completing between 50% and 75% of the race. But that only applies to races that “are suspended and cannot be resumed”. This isn’t the case in Suzuka so it’s full points and after some confusion in parc fermé it’s clear that Max has done it. He’s Drivers’ Champion for the second year in a row and the Team, naturally, goes crazy .
Through The Lens: 2022 Japanese Grand Prix
Glowing Through The Gloomy Weather In Japan© Vladimir Rys
Shining Lights In Suzuka© Vladimir Rys
That Gold Sparkles Even More In The Rain© Vladimir Rys
A Bull Between Two Horses© Vladimir Rys
A Special Helmet For A Special Race In Japan© Vladimir Rys
An Incredibly Special Team Photo In Suzuka© Vladimir Rys
A Rainy Sunday Afternoon In Suzuka© Vladimir Rys
Rainy Reflections© Vladimir Rys
The Team Working Hard In The Rain© Vladimir Rys
The Iconic Suzuka Wheel In The Dark© Vladimir Rys
The Best Teammates© Vladimir Rys
Our Two-Time World Champion!© Vladimir Rys
“I had no clue what they were going to decide with the points,” Max says. “So the main target was to win the race. Once I crossed the line, I was like, ‘OK, that was an amazing race. Good points again, but not World Champion yet’. Then I did my interview after the race. And then suddenly, my mechanics started to cheer and I was like: ‘What's going on?’ And they [the FIA media delegate] came to me and told me I was the World Champion. So then we celebrated .”
Max Makes It A Double!
The First Of Many Wins This Season© Getty Images
Making History As The First Winner Of The Miami Grand Prix© Getty Images
Owning The Streets Of Baku© Getty Images
Merci La Castellet!© Getty Images
The Bulls On Top In Belgium© Getty Images
Making Memories In Monza© Getty Images
Back On The Top Step In Imola© Getty Images
Champagne Rain In Spain© Getty Images
O' Canada, Thanks For The Win© Getty Images
We Had A Blast In Budapest© Getty Images
Our Home Race Hero© Getty Images
Max Makes It A Double!© Getty Images
Max’s title win in Japan was like hitting the button on a release valve. The brilliant run of results we were on – six wins on the bounce in the run-up to Japan – was of course a fairly heavy indicator that securing the title was a matter of when not if, but it’s not done until it’s done and the pressure is always there at the back of your mind. Nailing it in Japan has opened the release valve.
But while the whole team has got a spring in its step, there is still a bit of pressure to take the Constructors’ Championship. We haven’t won it since 2013 and we know we can wrap up a fifth one in Austin. Time to go west.
Austin’s undoubtedly a favourite race for the whole paddock. The vibe in the city is good, the BBQ is awesome and the music superb. It's a great circuit too, especially uphill to Turn 1 and then through the snaking sequence from Turns 2 to 7, which is pretty similar to the Esses at Suzuka or the Maggots/Becketts/Chapel complex at Silverstone.
And we kick off the weekend well. Max is in P2 in FP1. The second session is irrelevant as it’s given over to tyre testing but Max is back on top in FP3 with Checo fourth.
We’re all set for a good quali but ahead of the session the news comes through that Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz has passed away. It’s a huge blow for the team, his passion for motorsport infuses everything the team has done and continues to do. He was the Team’s biggest supporter and advocate. He brought through an entire generation of F1 drivers, seven of whom are on the grid here in Austin with various teams and his two teams have been key forces on the for more than 15 years.
Max is definitely taken aback by the news but he goes out and puts his RB18 into third place in qualifying. That’s going to turn into a front-row spot tomorrow as P2 qualifier Charles Leclerc is taken a 10-place grid penalty. Checo qualifies fifth but he’s taking a five-place penalty and once all the various penalties are applied it transpires that he’ll start ninth.
On Sunday there’s an emotional minute’s silence for Mr Mateschitz on the grid but once the grid is cleared all those thoughts are put aside. We’ve got a race to win and Max honours Dietrich’s memory with a superb drive to recover from a pit stop error to pass Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race and take the win. His victory is not only a fitting tribute to the Team’s owner, it wins us our first Constructors’ title in nine years.
We’d love to celebrate this in a big way but the closing stages of the season are relentless and we’ve got to pack everything down in double-quick time so the freight can get to next week’s race. We raise a glass to the title and our founder, and in the morning we’re on the road again – to Mexico City.
Max has won at the Autordrómo Hermanos Rodríguez three times from the past four races and with a viciously competitive RB18 under him there’s no stopping him in 2022 either. Max storms to pole position and though he suffers a bit of wheelspin at the start, it’s his only mistake of the weekend.
He holds the lead off the line, manages his starting softs beautifully in the first stint to go longer than expected and then can push his mediums harder in the second stint to open a comfortable gap. It’s a flawless win and with his 14th win of the year he sets a new record for s single season beating previous record holders Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, who scored 13 in 2004 and 2013 respectively.
Checo adds to the celebrations with a superb 10th podium finish of the year at his home race and it looks like this home stretch will be a glorious one .
There’s a saying in F1 that you’re only as good as you last race and in Interlagos that statement is proven beyond doubt. In short, we have a nightmare weekend in Brazil. We inexplicably lack pace, Mercedes have it in abundance and we’re just not at the races. Max starts the Sprint from P2 and Checo from P9, Max struggles for pace and as George Russell wins the mini-race the Dutchman finishes fourth. It’s better for Checo as he rises from P9 to P5 at the flag but it’s going to be a tough Sunday in Interlagos.
And so it proves. Max is involved in an early collision with Lewis Hamilton. He drops to P17 and is then handed a five-second penalty. He manages to recover to sixth at the flag just ahead of Checo but it’s a result we all want to put behind us as quickly as possible. There’s one more race to go and we want to go out on a high.
And we do. Abu Dhabi always has a ‘school’s out’ good feeling about it and this year it’s enhanced by the fact that we’ve done almost all we need to do this year. The final target is to try to get Checo to P2 in the standings as we’ve never finished 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship before.
It’s not to be, though. Max is again unbeatable at the front of the pack and he takes win 15 comfortably. Behind him there’s a furious tussle between Checo and Leclerc for P2 in the race and the Championship and though Checo reels the one-stopping Ferrari driver in over the closing laps, he can’t quite overhaul his rival and brings it home for his 11th podium finish - his best ever season.
And then… it’s over. Twenty-two weekends of intense action spread across eight months of extraordinary development have resulted in a remarkable 17 wins, 28 podiums in total, eight pole positions, two world titles, the largest points total for a driver ever scored in F1 and a team record of 759 points. It’s done. Our greatest season. And the next one can’t come soon enough.
