For the first time in its F1 history, Red Bull achieves a double win in the drivers’ championship
For the first time in 19 F1 seasons, Red Bull has achieved a one-two finish in the driver's championship. Max Verstappen clinched his third consecutive world championship title, with his teammate Sergio Perez finishing second with one race to go in the season.
Red Bull has finally managed to achieve a double in the driver standings. The Austrian team joined F1 as a constructor starting from the 2005 season, after acquiring the Jaguar team for a symbolic dollar.
The team, led by Christian Horner since its creation, had to wait until the Monaco Grand Prix in 2006 to secure its very first podium with David Coulthard, before having to wait until the Chinese Grand Prix in 2009 to obtain the first victory, as well as the first one-two finish for the team. Sebastian Vettel had won the race ahead of the Australian Mark Webber.
It was in 2010 that Red Bull won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles for the first time in their history. During the last race of the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi, Sebastian Vettel won his first career title, driving a very powerful Red Bull-Renault. The German and his team would hold on to these titles until 2013.
No double on the first six driver titles
However, over these four years of success, the Austrian team failed to achieve the double in the driver’s championship. In 2010, Mark Webber finished third in the championship, ten points behind the runner-up Fernando Alonso and his Ferrari. The same happened in 2011, third in the standings, 12 points behind the British champion of 2009, Jenson Button. In 2012, the Australian finished sixth in the championship and once again third in 2013, his last season in F1.
Red Bull has to wait until the 2021 season to win a fifth driver’s title, but the season is a fierce battle with seven-time British world champion Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez, who joined the team this season, finishes in fourth place in the driver’s standings. The following year, Max Verstappen and Red Bull win the driver’s and constructor’s championships, but Sergio Perez finishes third in the championship, three points behind Charles Leclerc.
A hard-earned double in the driver’s championship
Max Verstappen won his third world champion title and Red Bull won their sixth constructor’s title in the history of the team. Sergio Perez obtained the honorary title of vice-world champion for the first time in his career, and the Austrian team finally achieved a one-two finish in the driver’s standings.
However, this season was very difficult for the Mexican. The start of the championship had started well though, in the first five races of the season, from Bahrain to Miami, ‘Checo’ had performed well, with four podium finishes, including two victories in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, and a fifth place in Australia as his worst result.
But since the Monaco Grand Prix on May 28th, the Mexican’s season has been much more up and down, being eliminated several times in Q1, but still managing to secure a few podium finishes. However, Fernando Alonso and especially Lewis Hamilton have become a threat to Perez.
From the Singapore Grand Prix, the threat of not finishing in second place became real. The rumor of seeing Daniel Ricciardo alongside Verstappen in 2024 had gained momentum due to Sergio Perez’s results.
In the end, over the last three races of the season, number 11 finished the race ahead of Lewis Hamilton and secured his position as the vice-champion during the penultimate round in Las Vegas, less than two weeks ago.
