Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz reveals Verstappen played key role in saving Red Bull's F1 weekend

12:04, 19 May

Updated: 14:43, 19 May

byToby Nixon

Red Bull Racing appeared to be struggling on Friday, but things took a sharp turn during qualifying. Max Verstappen closed the gap to the McLarens and ultimately extended his lead during Sunday’s race. According to Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz, Verstappen himself played a key role in turning the team’s performance around.

Kravitz shared on the Sky Sports show Ted's Notebook after the race: “I asked Red Bull's press guys, who's done it? Was it the guys on the simulator, it might have been because of Rudy van Buren, It wasn't Sebastian Buemi because I think he's doing Formula E in Japan. But they said it's the engineers here at the track, and it's Max who turned it around.”

Verstappen pictured with team boss Christian Horner in the Red Bull garage

Verstappen One of the Main Characters in Saving the Weekend in Imola

Kravitz then commented on Verstappen's remarks after the race: “Then Max said, after the race, when they said 'Grande Max’, he said: ‘It was a very strong Saturday and Sunday’. He wasn't kidding, was he? He didn't care to mention Friday when they were all over the shop. So credit to them for turning it around completely on Friday night.”

It was a strong showing for Red Bull overall, as Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda worked his way up from the pitlane to finish in 10th place. Team principal Christian Horner noted that it was the first time since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix that the Milton-Keynes-based team had clearly outpaced McLaren. While the result offers optimism for the upcoming races, both Verstappen and the team have remained tight-lipped about what to expect performance-wise for the rest of the season.

Red Bull sit third in the constructors standings on 131 points, 16 points behind second placed Mercedes but 148 points behind clear leaders McLaren.