ORAL HISTORY: Verstappen’s remarkable debut Red Bull win remembered by those who witnessed it

On this day 10 years ago, Max Verstappen well and truly announced himself to the F1 world by winning on his Red Bull Racing debut at the Spanish Grand Prix. To mark the anniversary, F1.com gathered the thoughts of several people involved that day – from journalists to drivers – for a special trip down memory lane…

Red Bull’s dramatic seat swap

Verstappen’s F1 adventure started in 2015 when, fresh from a trophy-filled karting career and an eye-catching sole European F3 season, Red Bull signed him for their junior outfit Toro Rosso – beating rivals Mercedes to a deal. He immediately showed his pace and was soon breaking records, becoming the youngest points-scorer in F1 history – aged 17 years and 180 days – in only his second race at the Malaysian Grand Prix, and ending that rookie term with almost 50 points to his name.

Red Bull kept Verstappen at Toro Rosso for the start of the 2016 campaign, but talk of a potential promotion to the senior team was swirling around the paddock. After just four rounds, those rumours became concrete, with Daniil Kvyat demoted following a difficult race on home soil in Russia, and Verstappen promoted to become Daniel Ricciardo’s new team mate. And so, from the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Verstappen was a fully-fledged Red Bull driver.

Lawrence Barretto, reporter: “I was in my second season with Autosport working on-site as a reporter and I remember Kvyat’s future at Red Bull being a talking point from as early as pre-season testing. Red Bull boss Christian Horner felt Kvyat wasn’t performing well enough relative to his team mate Ricciardo, but this was also in the context of Verstappen making waves at their junior team Toro Rosso.

“With several teams sniffing around the Dutchman, including Mercedes, Red Bull knew they had to do something to lock Verstappen down. So, after Kvyat crashed into Sebastian Vettel not once but twice in Russia – just a race after he scored a podium in China – Red Bull pulled the trigger and demoted him (they could do this because they sign drivers to the Red Bull family and can move them around their two F1 teams as they see fit) to free up a seat for Verstappen.

“Red Bull upgraded Verstappen’s contract in the process, preventing anyone else from snatching him for the short- to medium-term. It was tough on Kvyat, but Red Bull were looking at the bigger picture. They felt Verstappen was special (and he delivered on that with four titles for them), and unfortunately, Kvyat was collateral damage.

“I remember the press conference room being packed on Thursday, with Kvyat sat at the front with his new Toro Rosso team mate Carlos Sainz to his right, and the man who had replaced him, Verstappen, to his left. I felt for him. He was clearly downbeat, and admitted it was a shock when Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko called him to tell him the news while he was watching Game of Thrones.”

Alex Jacques, F1 TV Lead Commentator: “The feeling in the paddock was interesting because there was universal acceptance that the swap was incredibly harsh on Kyvat, but there was also an inevitability to Verstappen’s promotion. It seemed near certain Red Bull wanted to make the move at some point in the 2016 season, such were the glimmers of raw talent that Verstappen had shown in his first campaign.”

Jolyon Palmer, Renault F1 driver: “Pre-weekend I felt a bit sorry for Kvyat with the sudden swap. I remember thinking it was harsh so early in the season. Red Bull hadn’t been too competitive and Dany had been doing pretty acceptably overall, I think, and was on the podium just two races before. Obviously it was a great chance for Max, too, but as I was driving at the time I certainly wasn’t dwelling much on Red Bull, and even Toro Rosso were too quick for Renault at that point in the season.”

Hitting the ground running

With just 23 F1 races under his belt, Verstappen was now set to go up against a proven Grand Prix winner in Ricciardo, who had previously beaten four-time World Champion Vettel over the course of a season. Not that Verstappen showed any trepidation, though, by running close to Ricciardo’s lap times through Friday practice and then giving his much more experienced team mate something to think about in Qualifying – the session ending with Ricciardo in P3 and Verstappen in P4, behind the dominant Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Lawrence Barretto: “One of Verstappen’s key strengths in his first season at Toro Rosso in 2015 was his ability to assimilate with the team very quickly and perform strongly relative to his team mate – but it was still something of a surprise to see him slip so seamlessly into the Red Bull mid-season and be a match for Ricciardo, whose star was high after he impressively defeated defending four-time World Champion team mate Vettel the year before.

“Verstappen was on the money straight away in Friday practice and within two-tenths of a second of Ricciardo. I remember speaking to him after the sessions and noting how relaxed he was about it all. He was then brilliant in Qualifying, setting a pace quicker than Ricciardo in the first two parts before being usurped by the Australian.

“Nonetheless, fourth on the grid – one place behind Ricciardo and the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg, but ahead of the Ferraris – was still a stunning performance. It suitably impressed Red Bull, with boss Horner saying that his performance in those two days was already proof enough they had made the right call to switch him into the works team in place of Kvyat.”

Alex Jacques: “It might sound counterintuitive, but watching Verstappen both onboard and trackside looked like a step back from his very best Toro Rosso form. The Dutch driver didn’t seem totally at one with the car, but he was still very quick, and while the teenager was clearly chasing things a bit, the stopwatch showed that he was close to new team mate Ricciardo straight away, which was really impressive. It is worth underlining how high Ricciardo’s stock was after the 2014 and 2015 seasons – he was rated as a top three driver on the grid by many in the paddock.”

David Tremayne, Hall of Fame F1 Journalist: “Of course, we already knew that Max was something special. I think Joe Saward and I were in Japan when he was born, and declared to one another that with his genes – father Jos and kart racer Sophie Kumpen as his parents – he would be jolly fast if he ever took up racing. But the moment he got his hands on a competitive car, the youngest driver on the grid supplied his definition of the word in a sensational race.”

Disaster for Mercedes, joy for Red Bull

While the Mercedes drivers were dominant in Qualifying, the situation was flipped on its head just a few corners into the Grand Prix. Having taken the lead at Turn 1, Rosberg subsequently lost power coming out of Turn 3 due to being in an incorrect engine mode, allowing Hamilton to get a run on him approaching Turn 4 – only for the Silver Arrows to dramatically collide and both end up in the gravel trap. That cleared a path for Ricciardo and Verstappen, who slotted into first and second over the fast-starting Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz and the Ferraris of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Lawrence Barretto: “There was collective gasp in the press room as Hamilton slid onto the grass and spun, collecting his Mercedes team mate Rosberg on the run down to Turn 4, and opening the door for the first non-Mercedes and non-Rosberg win of the season.

“Hamilton sat in his car, buried in the gravel, for what felt like an age. He then threw out his steering wheel with some force and stepped out of the car. Rosberg had been in the incorrect engine setting, which is why Hamilton was able to catch him so quickly and attempt a move, which Rosberg promptly shut off – hence the resulting collision.

“That left us with a straight fight between Red Bull and Ferrari for the win. Initially, it looked like Ricciardo’s to lose from the lead, but Verstappen was lurking in second. A decision by Red Bull to pull Ricciardo in early and put him on a three-stopper – which was predicted to be slower ahead of the race – dropped him out of contention and provided Verstappen with a chance to secure his first win.”

Alex Jacques: “In 2016 I was GP2/GP3 Commentator, and my broadcasting duties would be done by lunch time on Sunday. During the Grand Prix in those days, I would sometimes be given tasks like scanning team radios for any information missed, but on this occasion there wasn’t any production job for me, so I was free to go and watch the racing trackside.

“For the start I chose the hill at Turns 7 and 8, where there was an enormous crowd opposite on the grass banking. When the Mercedes pair crashed into each other on the first lap, the whole of the crowd rose as one. Mercedes had dominated F1 so much since 2014 that the idea of a non-Mercedes winner was incredible, and the crowd knew they were watching something special.”

Split strategies favour Verstappen

As the race developed, and as touched on above, Red Bull gave Ricciardo and Verstappen different strategies – going for the more aggressive three-stop approach with the Australian, and a more conventional two-stop plan with the Dutchman. It was the latter strategy that proved to be the quickest, promoting Verstappen to the lead of the race over fellow two-stopper Raikkonen, with the three-stopping Vettel and Ricciardo circulating in third and fourth.

While the pit stops worked out in his favour, Verstappen brilliantly dealt with two key challenges to capitalise on the situation: keeping his tyres alive across each stint and, as the chequered flag approached, managing to fend off Raikkonen behind him – something he ultimately achieved by six-tenths of a second. It was the culmination of a supreme debut weekend at Red Bull that saw Verstappen become F1’s youngest race winner at 18 years, seven months and 15 days old, smashing Vettel’s previous record (21 years, two months and 11 days).

Lawrence Barretto: “Verstappen was superb with his car placement and coaxing off the tyres, so even when Raikkonen got within DRS (Drag Reduction System) range and he started suffering a bit of cramp, the Red Bull racer was unperturbed. He simply managed the gap on a track where he knew it was tough to overtake.

“I even remember Verstappen saying on team radio, ‘Let him catch up’, so confident was he that he had everything in hand. It was a sign of what was to come and further confirmation that Red Bull’s bold move to bring him in was the right one.”

Alex Jacques: “It was clear watching trackside that Vettel and Ricciardo had been put on the more favourable strategy, at least on paper! Both looked very comfortable behind the wheel, but the gap wasn’t closing quickly enough, so it was a battle of the second cars for victory. Verstappen continued to be chasing fluidity in new machinery but somehow was holding Raikkonen at bay.

“I slowly walked around the turns that comprise the second half of the lap, and the mood of the crowd progressed from a babble of murmurs to a desire to witness history. By the end, Verstappen had the full support of the grandstands. It was clear he was using so much more of the road than Raikkonen, but he was withstanding the pressure of the champion and suddenly the shock result began to look likely. With a few laps to go I decided to bolt for the paddock, because an 18-year-old was going to win a Grand Prix.”

Jolyon Palmer: “I remember being told of the Mercedes crash by my engineer on the team radio as we went under the Safety Car and thinking that’s absolutely massive, nobody crashes into T4 at Barca, what’s gone on there? But beyond that I didn’t know much about the front of the race, particularly as the first car to lap me on that day was Danny Ric, who was leading at the time on his three-stopper, so I didn’t actually clock that Max was leading the Grand Prix until late on.

“Obviously on hearing he’d won I thought that’s unbelievably impressive and going to be a huge story for the media afterwards, but also with the Mercedes drivers out it wasn’t necessarily a huge shock. Between Mercedes having some sort of catastrophe at the front and Max having a debut win, I was confident nobody would care about mine and Kevin Magnussen’s intra-team scrap for 13th in the media pen afterwards, though!”

David Tremayne: “As lap after lap the kid held off the veteran no matter what Kimi tried, it reminded me of the first time Fernando Alonso contained Michael Schumacher at Imola in 2005, or when Lewis held off Fernando at Indianapolis two years later. This time there was never a moment when any of the top four could relax, let alone the spectators who were on the edge of their seats.

“The fact that Max never put a wheel wrong made it crystal clear that we had just watched one of the next greats come of age. What a buzz that was! 0.616s was the final margin of victory, but it might as well have been six minutes.”

Verstappen’s winning run begins

Verstappen’s Spanish Grand Prix triumph was the latest step in an already rapid rise. While there would be some tricky moments to navigate in the races and years ahead, the youngster worked through them and underlined his status as one of F1’s most exciting talents. Seemingly going from strength to strength, he now boasts a huge number of records, having earned 48 pole positions, 71 Grand Prix victories, 127 podium finishes, almost 3,500 points and four world titles across 237 starts.

Lawrence Barretto: “Verstappen’s weekend in Barcelona was a stunner and made him F1’s youngest-ever winner – but his crash next time out in Monaco was a reminder of how early he still was in his career. Though there were inevitable peaks and troughs, he kept it close with his team mate Ricciardo, who only edged him 4-3 in the next seven races after Monaco.

“Over the next couple of years, Verstappen refined his driving style – learning very quickly that now he had a better car, he didn’t need to go on the limit straight away as he had margin to improve. It meant he would build up through a weekend differently, gradually cutting out mistakes and honing his immense talent.

“At the end of 2017, Red Bull were certain that Verstappen was their future, even if he had yet to finish a campaign ahead of Ricciardo. They handed him a new contract ahead of 2018 before they discussed renewing Ricciardo. The Australian wasn’t feeling the love and assessed his options before shocking the F1 world by signing for Renault.

“Verstappen went on to beat Ricciardo in the Drivers’ Championship in their last year together before becoming the team’s undisputed lead driver. Three years later, he won his first World Championship – and followed that up with three more on the bounce.”

Alex Jacques: “In early 2015, I’d interviewed Verstappen in pre-season testing. That day I put to him the list of motorsport luminaries who thought he was too young to be competing at 17 years old, and it was extensive. Verstappen shrugged it off with a half laugh and ‘we’ll see’. Just over a year on, and about 50 metres to the left of where we’d spoken, I peered through a gate as the flash of a navy car pulled into Parc Ferme. Verstappen arrived with an arm aloft. An impossibility made real.

“Moments later there was a loud clatter of a metal door and a furious Ricciardo standing in its frame. The Australian had finished in fourth and was flushed with anger. He strode from the car via the FIA scales back into the paddock where there was nowhere left to go. Wisely he was convinced to allow some cooling off time before facing the media pen. Those minutes are the clearest picture of defeat I’ve ever seen whilst covering sport. Ricciardo hadn’t just seen a Grand Prix victory slip, it was to Red Bull’s new golden boy, and the significance of letting his new team mate win immediately was not lost on him.

“For F1, it was a day when even the most cynical personnel of the paddock were in wide-eyed disbelief at what Verstappen had achieved. It really was that remarkable.”

Jolyon Palmer: “It felt like Max’s rise was going to be stratospheric already with the speed and attitude he’d shown so far in F1, and the way he was rushed through not only to Red Bull but to F1 in the first place. I guess the drivers all knew he was something special, and Barcelona just cemented the fairy tale story for him. It seemed like it was written.”

David Tremayne: “I remember in all the excitement whizzing down to the pit lane to catch the celebrations because it’s always a buzz to observe a driver winning for the first time, and smiling at a guy I had seen around for a while without knowing quite who he was. I’d always tended to speak with Jos, who was a mate from his own time in F1, or Max himself. ‘What’s your connection then?’ I asked. ‘I’m his manager,’ Raymond Vermeulen replied with a grin. Doh!

“I thought Seb later made an excellent point. I confess that I felt he’d been rather graceless and domineering about Dany K’s righteous ‘torpedo’ pass on the Ferraris in China, to cover his own tactical error, and again after they collided in Russia, and I felt that Dany had been pretty hard done by partly because of that. But Seb redeemed himself, I thought, when asked what he felt about losing his youngest-ever winner record to the upstart Dutchman.

“‘I think records are there to be broken, and when I achieved that myself I was so excited that I didn’t care if I was 20 or 25 or whatever age. Regarding Max’s age, I don’t think it matters. If you’re quick enough, you belong here’. And the first time that he got a really competitive car, Max had certainly proved that he did.”