by VALERIO BARRETTA
Verstappen picks his favourite Red Bulls
There was a time when Alpine – then Renault – did not look for an engine, but rather supplied it to other teams. With the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era, however, the power units built by the French company did not offer great guarantees, and were a sort of trap for Red Bull, with which the synergy had proven profitable until 2013.
There were numerous frictions between team principal Chris Horner and advisor Helmut Marko (then, yes, allies) on one side and the then CEO of Renault Cyril Abiteboul on the other over the engine problems that the British team said no longer allowed it to be on par with Mercedes. When the team could then count on a couple like Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, clearly in Milton Keynes the frustration of having an engine inferior to the competition grew.
Verstappen’s words
The Dutchman recalled those times in an interview at Goodwood. When asked which car he was most fond of, he had no doubts: “Actually I have three. The first is the RB12a fantastic car to drive with which I achieved my first victory (2016, ed.). It was a little slow on the straights, but it had nothing to do with the car“.
“Then there’s the RB16B, which I won my first championship with. It’s always very emotional, but it was a fantastic car to drive. Finally I have to choose the RB19: it will probably be my most successful car ever.“.
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