Red Bull came into this race weekend with a huge spotlight on the team. It was largely on the second seat and the driver change that had taken place, but it very much captured Max Verstappen in its glare, too.
Verstappen had clearly not been happy with the decision to drop Liam Lawson after just two races. The Dutchm an got on well with Lawson, had seen what he was capable of in the Racing Bulls car, and was certain that the issue was not with the driver alongside him, it was with the car.
That was an extension of the feeling from Verstappen when Sergio Perez was replaced at the end of last season, too, and with Red Bull still appearing to lag behind McLaren, it could easily have been interpreted that he was frustrated with the situation.
But far from letting that become his overall demeanor, he had already made very clear that how he feels on a personal level and how tough his RB21 is to drive do not have a direct correlation.
“I hear this all the time but for me nothing changes,” Verstappen told Sky Sports in China of whether he has patience with the team. “I’m actually very relaxed — I’m very positive in my mind. I’m enjoying life.
“So every time I jump in the car I just try to do t he best I can, and I’m not thinking about anything else, to be honest, because I feel good in life in general — if that’s in the car, outside the car — and that’s actually what matters the most.”
What also matters to Verstappen, though, is winning. On Saturday in Suzuka he pulled out a stunning qualifying lap that gave him a chance to do some more of that, and on Sunday he took that opportunity with both hands.
Decisively retaining his lead off the line, Verstappen always had enough of an answer for the lurking McLarens behind him, navigating the pit stop phase and then pulling out the extra few tenths of a second he needed whenever Lando Norris threatened to come within DRS range.
The superlatives were flowing, with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase calling it “perfection,” team principal Christian Horner saying it was “one of Max’s best weekends that he’s had.” And while those words do mean something to the four-time world champion, it’s also what his actions to earn that acclaim represent.
“It also means that I really care, even though of course it’s not been the easiest start to the year for us,” he said. “We are not where we want to be in terms of performance. I think that’s no secret.
“But this weekend has been really, really nice. Sometimes you have those kind of moments where you get some really great laps out of it. And luckily also the balance got a bit more together throughout that qualifying.
“So we just have to keep on working. I mean it’s nice, but I’m a person who doesn’t listen to the positives and the negatives. I’m just in the middle. I just focus on my own performances and just keep working, keep grinding.”