Verstappen emotional: 'All we could do was win that race'

Max Verstappen owes a lot to Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Racing to him. Yet neither would be here without Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder of the energy drink company Red Bull. Max Verstappen also acknowledges this.

The racing team's story begins with the sale of Jaguar Grand Prix to Red Bull in 2005. Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, and Helmut Marko stepped in. Since then, it has enjoyed huge successes in both the constructors' and drivers' championships with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

Mateschitz's death, which took place at the same time as last year's Austin Grand Prix, certainly had an impact on Verstappen, he told CNN. “For us, Austin was a very tough weekend, with Dietrich passing away, basically the man who created everything for us … the only thing we could do that weekend was, of course, to try and win that race, which luckily we did.”

Verstappen experienced winning the constructors' championship that same weekend as emotional, as many in his team did. It is hoped that Mateschitz's legacy will consist of more grandiose victories and championships.