“We have the facilities to deliver a very good power unit. Red Bull invested a lot in that. I was not too stressed about that, but we are very happy how we started. We are very proud. At the same time, we keep working hard, because there are a lot of area’s we want to improve. That’s the mentality we have within the team.”

Following the win, Max flew straight to Singapore where this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix will take place. Despite the back-to-back races, the Dutchman was able to make the most of the days in between events: “I have spent time with my dad. We haven’t had a lot of time together lately, just because of both our schedules and lives. So, it was nice to spend time with him and relax. I just did a race, so you want to recover a bit from it. There are still a lot of races left, so it’s important to also take time to switch of a bit.”

Thierry Vermeulen said: “It was a really great race. Ben did a great job in the first stint after the very hectic start. He managed it in a great way. A big thank you to the team. I am very happy with this win.”

Ben Green added: “This is fantastic! It is a great result for the team, as everyone has been working so hard. Thierry drove a great stint to the end.”

“This one didn’t come out of nowhere,” a visibly relieved and delighted Jos tells Viaplay. “Especially with that final Safety Car, the whole field came back together. We had a ten or eleven-second lead and Max was managing the gap, so it was looking good. But suddenly all of that was wiped out. Somehow, though, the pace is back. You can see it in the steering inputs as well. It looks positive again.”

Mekies added: “The first win of the season is a great way to finish what has been an extremely successful weekend overall. After showing strong pace in every session and securing our first pole position of the season yesterday, Max converted that performance into an outstanding P1 today. In often chaotic circumstances, he remained in control throughout the race, managed the conditions brilliantly, showed the strongest pace and delivered exactly the kind of performance we know he is capable of.”

Thanks to strong race pace and a good team strategy, Max led a controlled race all the way to the finish. A late safety car and a corresponding restart also didn't manage to throw off Max's race. Kimi Antonelli followed in second place in his Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) drove an excellent final stint to claim the last podium place.

“It is fantastic,” a delighted Max Verstappen said afterwards. “We have been trying many Grands Prix to get pole. Sometimes we were a bit closer than others, but to finally get it, from where we started the season, is incredible.” The Dutchman can see that the progress Red Bull has made throughout the season is now being rewarded: “Finally, I have a car with which it is possible. The whole season has obviously been difficult at times. You know that sometimes you drive really good laps, but that only gets you P5 or P6. We have made some good steps forward throughout the season, and maybe this circuit also suits our car a little better. Then everything comes together nicely.” According to Max, the work on the balance and gaining a better understanding of the new car has been particularly important. “I think we have simply improved the balance throughout the season by bringing upgrades, of course. And I also think we have the car in a slightly better operating window. There are obviously all these new regulations. At some point, I think you understand a little better where you want the car to be. At least we have managed that well so far this weekend.”

Max certainly was not handed pole on a plate in Q3. His first two sectors were less impressive on his final run, but he managed to make up time in the final sector. Max: “My last set of tyres was not at the right temperature when I left the pits. We need to analyse why that was. Because of that, I had to adjust my out-lap, and everything is very sensitive here. That is probably why the first two sectors were not quite as good.” Starting from pole, Verstappen will go in search of his first Grand Prix victory of the season tomorrow. With high tyre degradation and multiple pit stops, there is plenty that can happen, but Max knows where it all starts for him: “For us, it starts with the start, of course. That is going to be a problem, but after that it is still a very long race. I am happy with today and, of course, I am going to try to win tomorrow. If you start first, that is the goal.”

“In the second session, we had expected rain but, when that didn’t appear, we prioritised the long run on the medium tyre, as gaining data on tyre behaviour and degradation will be the most important thing for the rest of the weekend. In the end, that meant we ran out of time for Max to run the Soft, but Isack had the opportunity, and that was valuable. Isack had a few issues in the session with balance, but we will do our best to iron those out overnight. After that, in terms of relative performance, it is very difficult to judge, but so far, we are happy with where we are."

“I think we had a decent start to the weekend,” Max said after the second free practice session in Malaysia. “It’s tricky, the track is really hot and we have a lot of degradation. So there are a lot of things we need to figure out.”

Max continued: “It’s difficult to say if we made progress. It was warmer in FP2 than in FP1, and we were on a different program.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend, Max said: “We have a lot of things to do, a lot to look at and try, and some things we need to understand better.”

At the start of the session, the air temperature is 31 degrees, while the track temperature is 52 degrees. With a 0% chance of rain, there is little prospect of wet weather during the session. Franco Colapinto is the first driver to head out when the lights go green. The vast majority of the field takes to the track on the medium tyres. Max is also out early and begins his first laps on the soft tyres. He immediately sets the fastest time on them.

Having finished on the podium in recent races, Max is motivated to keep this run going. “We really have tried our best and we’ve been scoring a lot of podiums, but I want to win, that’s why I am here. We’re close and I really want to win at least one race this year.”

“It’s a shame, because this is one of my favourite rallies of the year,” Jos says. “The weather was really nice and there was some strong competition, so I was looking forward to it. A lot of the stages are fast, they were in great condition and it’s a very complete rally.”

The East Belgian Rally consists of four different special stages, each of which is contested three times: Büllingen (14.04 km), Bütgenbach (6.30 km), St. Vith (12.04 km) and Burg-Reuland (13.67 km).

While the Red Bull looked competitive during free practice, Max encountered engine problems in qualifying. “The engine wasn’t working properly throughout qualifying,” Max says afterwards. “We had made an adjustment to the car, but it wasn’t working. I was already half a second down on the straights compared to my teammate.” In Q3, the problem became even more apparent. “You want to push for your middle lap and suddenly I’m told that my battery isn’t full. It’s not charging, it’s not working.” As a result, Max saw a strong starting position slip away. “You do such a good job preparing all weekend, the car is working well, and then everything falls apart in qualifying and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The problems also had an impact on the tyres. Because Max was unable to push at full speed, he could not get them up to temperature sufficiently for his final attempt. “I simply didn’t have the right grip on that final lap. And then, of course, you have the same problem with the engine not working properly. And I also had a yellow flag from Lando in front of me.” According to Max, the engine braking also behaved strangely at times. “It was like pulling the handbrake in certain corners. So yeah, something is seriously wrong. It’s not good enough.” Red Bull will have to investigate over the coming hours whether the problem can still be resolved. “I don’t know if we can fix this with this engine. It’s obviously frustrating to be so competitive all weekend and then throw it all away like that.”

“Mercedes looks like the fastest car, especially on the short runs, McLaren and Ferrari are hard to assess due to a lot happening on track, but we should be up there with them. It was good to see Isack back in the car and being competitive and up to speed straight away, with no issues concerning his wrist."

“It was actually a pretty good day”, said Max. “I’m pretty happy with the car. We’ll have to fine tune a few things and try to find some more lap time. But in general, it’s been a good start with the updates behaving the way we expected.”

The weather is glorious as the first practice session gets underway. The thermometer reads 28 degrees, while the track temperature is 50 degrees. As soon as the lights at the end of the pit lane turn green, the track immediately becomes busy. Max is also straight out on track, running a set of hard tyres, and immediately sets the fastest time. “The car is pulling strangely to the right, even when I am driving straight,” the Dutchman reports over the team radio.

“I get along well with Isack and it’s great that we can continue to focus on the future together. He was a rookie last year and he has done well this year so it’s only logical to give him an extension. He has earned it.”

After being side-lined for three rounds, Hadjar will be back in the cockpit with the challenging Baku street circuit awaiting the drivers. Max: “It’s challenging and can be hectic. It’s not easy to get into the right window and flow, especially with the tyres. That’s the real challenge, to find the confidence to be on the limit in every braking zone.”

Laurent Mekies, CEO and team principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said: “We’re very excited to continue our journey with Isack. Since joining us at the start of the year, he has been superb on and off track, especially considering this is only his second Formula 1 season, which made extending his contract an easy decision.”

“From the very beginning, Isack immersed himself in the team, spending every minute at the factory with his engineers to develop the car, always eager to learn and improve. You could see from that first weekend in Melbourne that he handled the step up with remarkable composure and had earned his place in this seat.”

“The period since his injury has been a difficult one for Isack, but this extension is a testament to how much we believe in him and we can’t wait to see him back out on track. We still have a lot we want to achieve this season, but it's a great feeling to know that the drivers, engineers and everyone back at the factory are all heading in the same direction, committed and together.”

Looking back on the Spanish Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen finished second, the Dutchman says: “Madrid was a good result for us and the team has been working hard on taking this positive momentum to make sure we maximise the performance of the car in Baku.”

The driver duo had already secured an impressive podium finish in front of their home crowd on Saturday, and things went even better on Sunday, starting from third on the grid. Green immediately moved up to second place at the rolling start, slotting in behind the sister car from Emil Frey Racing. After a while, a full course yellow followed, and at the restart, Green made the difference by overtaking Konsta Lappalainen to take the lead.

The pit stop and driver change halfway through the one-hour race went smoothly, leaving Thierry to drive the remainder of the race without mistakes. Vermeulen did exactly that: after 36 laps, he took the chequered flag to secure his maiden GTWC Sprint victory. The second Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, driven by Matteo Cairoli, crossed the finish line in third place.

Taking his trophy, Max cheekily joked: “It’s my first one of the year, so I’ll take this one!”

“It was a good qualifying session for us”, said Max. “Third place is a great result. The car felt good and I was able to attack the corners the way I want to. It’s good result.” Max adds: “If we really want to compete at the front, everything has to be in tip-top shape. At the moment, we’re still falling a little short every now and then.”

Speaking after Friday’s running, Max said: “Not too bad. We are still trying to find some more pace over a single lap and to better understand the tyres during the long runs. We are finding more speed with every lap. There are always little things, such as the balance of the car, that you want to work on during free practice to improve. We will continue with that tomorrow.”

The 22 Formula 1 drivers are let loose on the brand-new Madring for the very first time, a challenging street circuit where keeping the car out of the wall appears to be an art in itself. As everyone gets to know the track better with every lap and the pace continues to increase. Both Ferraris immediately top the timing sheets, with Lewis Hamilton leading the way. After the first fifteen minutes of FP1, Max is in third, three tenths off the pace.

“It’s a tough track, very challenging. Let’s see how it is in a Formula 1 car. It won’t be easy. The kerbs and bumps will be challenging for us. The banked turn is cool. I don’t think it’ll be flat out, but it will require skill, which is always good.”

Despite F1 cars yet to take to the circuit, some in the paddock have already labelled it as a dangerous circuit. “If you have a small moment in certain sections, it can result in a crash, but that’s the same in Jeddah. It’s part of the game to keep margins. Of course, a mistake is easily made when you’re on the limit, so we’ll see”, said Max who is looking forward to experiencing Madrid.

Max had to fight hard for third place. The Red Bull was particularly lacking speed on the straights. “We’re obviously snails on the straights. The car didn’t feel very good and, of course, it’s disappointing when you see how much we’re lacking on the straights, but we maximised what was in the car.” Max once again struggled with the rear of the car, particularly through the slower corners. Nevertheless, he managed to fight his way towards the front. “There were some nice battles out on track. I often had to try to overtake around the outside, because between Turns 2 and 4 we were struggling quite a lot with the energy compared to our competitors.”

In the closing stages, Verstappen has another difficult moment at Turn 2 when the asphalt starts coming loose. “The asphalt was just coming apart there. I turned in and picked up all these loose pieces of asphalt. That completely unsettled the car.” Max then comes under pressure from the McLarens behind him. “They were in my overtaking mode and that makes quite a big difference here. But I’m happy with P3 and to be on the podium here.” After the race, Max also has some kind words for race winner Antonelli, who went from P19 to victory. “It’s obviously very special to win the Italian Grand Prix as an Italian. For me, it’s the same as winning at Zandvoort.” Asked about his Mercedes colleague’s impressive comeback, Max adds with a smile: “Every weekend, he strikes again. He’s doing a good job.”

“Shame,” Max says after qualifying. “I had a better feeling in FP3, the balance was a little better, but in qualifying there was something wrong at the rear of the car. We have had that problem before. The car then does not cope properly with the kerbs and bumps. You simply lose time there; I think at least two tenths.”

Looking ahead to Sunday's race at Monza, Max continues: “I do not know whether we are allowed to fix the problem on the car. If something is broken, sometimes you are allowed to replace it, but sometimes you are not. If the car stays like this, it is going to be a painful race, because there is more potential in it.”

The third practice session at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza got off to a fairly quiet start. It took more than fifteen minutes before the leading teams ventured out onto the hot track. Max was once again working with his race engineer GianPiero Lambiase for this session and the rest of the weekend, after Tom Hart had taken over the role during second practice.

Antonelli (1:23.032) and Leclerc then set the fastest times on soft tyres, although the Monegasque driver’s lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits. Max was four tenths off the pace on medium tyres. Norris (on mediums) and Hamilton (on softs) were unable to beat Verstappen’s time on their first laps. Leclerc did manage it, with the Ferrari driver moving into P2 on his second lap on the softs.

With half an hour remaining, Max improved his time to 1:23.455, putting him fourth at that point, behind Antonelli, Leclerc and Gasly. It should be noted, however, that the first two had set their times on soft tyres. Max then lowered his time to 1:23.100 to move into P2, before Russell went fastest with a 1:22.687, helped in part by a slipstream from his Mercedes team-mate.

Reflecting on his session, Max shared: “(It was) a bit tricky. Tricky balance — to get the corner balance together. That’s what we need to work for tomorrow to find a little bit more lap time. The gap is still big. I hope, of course, that we can close it a little bit over one lap and hopefully that will be even closer in the race. But at the moment, it’s difficult to say. We’ll work on our balance, and it will naturally come together a bit more.”