“Please Come to Ferrari Queen”: Red Bull’s Trailblazer Gets a Thunderous Ovation in Sergio Perez’s Backyard

The only deserved winners of both trophies this year, the World Drivers’ Championship and the World Constructors’ Championship, have been Red Bull. From the time when they were always second-best to Mercedes, Red Bull has now come full cycle – becoming the clear dominant force in the sport this year.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

A lot of their success is obviously a result of the beast they produced – the RB18. Their car has been visibly the fastest this year, with great pace on all tracks and in all conditions. Lewis Hamilton recently conceded that the car is far too good to be competed against. But the car alone doesn’t do the job.

The credit of course goes to the brilliant driving of both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The two drivers have shown excellent technical ability to amass 656 points for the team over 19 races. They might as well break the record for most points accumulated in a season.

Often times though, we forget the amount of work that goes on in the background. The mechanics, the R&D team, and the strategy team are examples of such exemplary work. Red Bull has the best people working for them which has facilitated their performances this season. Contributions of the strategy team have not gone missed, headed by Principal Strategy Engineer Hannah Schmitz.

Schmitz spearheaded important decisions such as opting to start Max on the soft compound at Budapest when he had qualified at P10 – he ended up with an extremely unexpected victory that night, a result of the strategy team’s decision. Similarly, Schmitz & Co. pulled off a P1-P3 as a result of their astute pit-stop strategy.

Dr. Helmut Marko applauded her work after Monaco, “We were all exceptional, but if we won it was mainly due to Hannah,” which shows how good she and her team is.

F1 for outsiders is a sport of individual brilliance but in reality, there are a lot of minds and hands at work that bring in the big prizes. A driver alone can hardly do something of significance.

Red Bull and its strategy team are coveted by other teams and fans

With the performances, Red Bull has put out so regularly and that Ferrari has, it was obvious fans would want Hannah on their side. Prior to the Mexican GP, some fans made their shot to bring her to the Tifosi side of the grid.