Red Bull Racing had reasons to celebrate at the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1, after Max Verstappen secured third place and Isack Hadjar finished fifth. Besides the double result among the top positions, the team celebrated its first podium using its own power unit.
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The result was treated internally as an important milestone for the Red Bull Powertrains-Ford project. According to the team, the performance in Montreal also confirmed a recent evolution in the car.
Verstappen admitted surprise with the podium but highlighted that the team made good use of all opportunities in the race: “It’s great to be back on the podium. It was a bit unexpected, but we made the right decisions and left nothing on the table,” said the Dutchman.
The four-time world champion especially highlighted the strong first stint on soft tires, considered fundamental to building an advantage throughout the race. With the medium tires, temperature management became more complicated, especially because of the Virtual Safety Car activations: “I enjoyed the last laps fighting with Lewis (Hamilton) and pushed hard to regain the position,” he commented.
Verstappen also emphasized that Red Bull managed to reduce the gap to competitors in recent races: “In the last two rounds, we were much closer and took positive steps. This is also our first podium with our own power unit, so it’s a big milestone for the team,” he added.
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Hadjar also gave a positive assessment of the team’s performance, despite admitting difficulties during the race. The Frenchman said he had a good start but struggled to extract the full potential of the car: “The car was very fast, but harder to drive than yesterday, when I was more comfortable,” he said.
According to Hadjar, Red Bull had the potential to finish even further ahead in Canada: “I think I could have secured fourth place, but in the end, we had to settle for fifth. The overall performance of the car was very positive and we took a big step since Miami,” he added.
The team principal, Laurent Mekies, praised the work done both on track and at the factory in Milton Keynes. The executive highlighted the historical importance of the first podium with the new power unit and stated that the team continues to evolve, although it still needs to find some tenths to reach the leaders: “We still have a lot to learn to extract everything from the current package, while everyone continues to work intensely to bring new developments to the tracks,” he concluded.
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