Verstappen: A race Dietrich would have loved to see

The double Formula 1 Champion seemed to be driving on a mission in Austin on Sunday, as he pushed to the limit to survive a mess of a pit stop from his team to take the win passing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on his way.

Verstappen said after qualifying - where he missed out on pole by less than a tenth - that Red Bull planned to make their late founder Dietrich Mateschitz proud after the race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Verstappen believes that goal was achieved with the win, and the manner in which is was secured, and told F1's official website: "It was not made easy for us but in the end of course, extremely happy to win in this difficult weekend for us.

"I think this was actually a race that he [Mateschitz] would have loved to see," he believed.

"Of course I’m sad, but I’m also incredibly proud of the whole team of the way they’ve operated the whole weekend – apart from the pit stop," the Dutchman added. "But that was a gun failure and these things can unfortunately happen. But we kept it together and we won also the constructors’ [title], so I’m very proud of everyone.

"Also, the people who don’t even come to the track, back at the factory, the effort they put into the car this year has been enormous and I’m very proud of everyone to secure this," he added crediting the Red Bull staff working behind the scenes.

"But we gave it everything out there today. Of course, it’s a very difficult weekend for us, so this one is definitely dedicated to Dietrich himself," he said when asked how the win felt in the context of Mateschitz's passing.

"What he has done for everyone, the only thing we could do today was win and even though after the pit stop it was not looking great, I gave it everything out there and pushed it to the limit to come back," he revealed.

"I said it before that we are also doing more races a year, so [these records] are not always justifiable" Verstappen commented when asked about equaling the record of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel of 13 wins per season.

"I mean, I think we are having an amazing season, but when you have a great car, you can win a lot of races. Of course, I’m proud of winning a lot of races but I don’t really look at these kind of stats – I’m just happy winning races," the Red Bull ace concluded.

Sergio Perez may have finished just fourth in Austin having started from ninth following a grid penalty for taking new power unit components, but he has played a major role this season in securing Red Bull's Constructors' Crown.

Perez spoke of Red Bull's Title after the Austin race; he said: "It certainly means a lot for us. You know, it’s been a big dominance by Mercedes in the last few years.

"I really hope that the era of Red Bull starts now and that we are able to dominate the next few years," he added.

"It was quite an intense battle out there," the Mexican said of the race. "It was a shame that we got half of the front wing damaged, and I think that did hurt us quite a lot through the race.

"I think once we realised it was missing half of the front wing, we tried to manage it out with the [differential] and so on – but in the end I think I needed one more lap," he concluded lamenting missing out on the podium.