Max Verstappen's Red Bull gamble paid off instantly

Max Verstappen turned Red Bull’s most controversial call into an immediate triumph on 15 May 2016, winning the Spanish Grand Prix on his debut for the team at 18 years and 228 days old to become Formula 1’s youngest-ever race winner and the first Dutch driver to win in F1.

The result mattered far beyond a single afternoon in Barcelona because Verstappen had been drafted into the seat only days earlier. Red Bull had demoted Daniil Kvyat just four races into the season after a troubled start to 2016, including his collision with Sebastian Vettel in Sochi, and the swap sent shockwaves through the paddock.

Verstappen still needed the race to break his way. Mercedes team-mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided on the opening lap and both retired, wiping out the dominant force at the front and turning the grand prix into a fight between Red Bull and Ferrari.

Red Bull then split its strategies. Daniel Ricciardo initially led, but his three-stop plan left Verstappen on the stronger route, and the Dutchman moved to the front on lap 38 with a two-stop strategy that put him in position to control the race.

That did not make the finish straightforward. Verstappen had Kimi Raikkonen behind him for the final 22 laps, often with the Ferrari within a second, and had to manage worn tires and constant pressure without a mistake. After 66 laps he sealed victory in 1:14:40.017.

Verstappen, then a Red Bull Racing driver, admitted even he had not expected the outcome. “It’s amazing, I couldn’t believe I was leading,” he said. “I was targeting a podium, but to win straight away is an amazing feeling.” He added: “I was looking at the pitboard, saw my name with 10 laps to go, then started to watch the board. I was thinking: ‘Don’t look at it, focus on the tyres and bring it home’. It’s a great feeling. I absolutely didn’t expect this.”

Christian Horner, then Red Bull team principal, said the defining part of the drive was not the speed but the control. “The biggest aspect of his performance has been his calmness,” Horner said. “We were all getting tense with five laps to go because the tyres were at the end of their life.” He added that there was “no agitation in his voice, no panic, no tension,” only “a young man who was completely in control of what he is doing.”

Ten years on, that remains the clearest proof that Red Bull’s ruthless mid-season switch had been vindicated at once. What looked like a brutal gamble in the days before Barcelona became the launch point for a Red Bull career that has since delivered four world titles and 71 grand prix wins.