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BARCELONA, Spain – Fourth-placed Max Verstappen was the highest finishing Red Bull Ford Powertrains-powered racer at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
The Dutchman finished two places ahead of Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Isack Hadjar, with Visa CashApp Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad taking the chequered flag in 9th and 10th respectively.
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After the race Max said: “Today we just didn’t have the pace to keep up with the cars ahead. I was really just doing my own race as we were a little bit behind the guys that finished in front of me. As a Team we did everything right, it was the winning strategy, so we made the right call there with the tyres. We were just too slow compared to the cars ahead on each compound, unfortunately. We tried our best and put everything into it but ultimately the whole weekend was a bit tough for us. We do struggle more with these high energy tracks with high degradation and we just need to work on things and try to find more pace in the upcoming races."
Isack told media: “I felt like I had good pace this weekend once we got to Qualifying and the race, but I had a shocker at the race start with so much wheelspin, so that’s one aspect I really want to focus on before Red Bull Ring. We could have fought with Oscar if we had a good start, so it’s a bit of a shame. I think we did way better than we thought we would this weekend given the track layout and conditions. Austria will be a better track for us, and we expect to have a stronger car. We just need to work on the starts."
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Laurent Mekies, Oracle Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal, said: Today, we picked up all the points that were available to us based on our pace: a very strong race from Max who was on a well-managed and quite different three-stop strategy to those ahead. As for Isack, after a dramatic launch which saw him lose several places, he stayed cool and fought back with some great overtakes and a strong pace to score good points. And, from a Red Bull Ford Powertrains point of view, it was great to see that all cars finished in the points.”
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Meanwhile, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was a tough race for the Proton Racing Ford Mustangs with car #88 finishing in 17th place in the LMGT3 category, and car #77 classified in 21st.
Next year, Ford Racing will return to Le Mans with an all-new Hypercar contender to fight for the overall win. Ford Racing last week announced its final three factory drivers for the highly anticipated 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar program. Click the link below to read more.
