Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan has made a somewhat surprise pick for Max Verstappen’s best-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix.
With 63 victories under his belt, one is spoilt for choice in picking Verstappen’s greatest race.
Having worked at Red Bull since 2005, Monaghan is an outstanding candidate to pick from Verstappen’s best exploits, but his decision is perhaps not the most obvious choice when the likes of Spain 2016 or Belgium 2022 are considered.
Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid Podcast, Monaghan said: “I will take you back to Miami in 2023. There are races where he has passed people to win and there are races he’s defended.
“Checo [Perez] was on pole, and Max was P9,” Monaghan continued.
“By Lap 15, he was sitting in Checo’s boots… I thought was a pretty assured drive.”
Verstappen’s 2023 Miami victory was stunning, and cannot be overlooked, so it’s still a worthy mention in the Dutchman’s best-wins catalogue and who is one to argue with Monaghan, a man who has witnessed the Red Bull ace’s career up close.
Verstappen came into the race with talk of his team-mate Perez being a potential title threat, with the Mexican in strong form having won two of the first four races in 2023.
That talk was squashed thanks to Verstappen’s drive in Miami.
“[Verstappen] passed a few people, looked after his tyres, caught his teammate who was driving well – he’d stuck it on pole – and made it look quite straightforward,” Monaghan added.
“I thought that, for a race where he had to pass people, look after tyres and all sorts, was pretty incredible.”
Still, despite ranking Miami 2023 as Verstappen’s best, Monaghan couldn’t ignore the Dutchman’s drive from 14th to first at Spa-Francorchamps a year earlier.
“If you look at Spa 2022, he was gone. Absolutely gone. He didn’t put a foot wrong,” Monaghan said.
“He could have just lost his concentration, but no. He doesn’t lose his concentration.”
Verstappen has ‘a phenomenal inner strength’
Monaghan’s career has seen him work with multiple world champions, including Ayrton Senna, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
His time with Verstappen began at the 2016 Spanish GP, the Dutchman’s Red Bull debut as an 18-year-old.
It’s a race Verstappen won, soaking up pressure from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to become F1’s youngest-ever GP victor.
Monaghan has seen Verstappen grow from that incredible start to become an all-time F1 great with four world titles.
“My impression from that first race was what a cool customer. Goodness me,” he said.
“No pressure fazed him, did it? He had Kimi breathing down his neck in the last few laps.
“He was just using the overtake to keep the MGU-K deployment going down the streets and then topping the battery up elsewhere around the lap.
“It was mighty impressive for his first race with us.
“Daniel [Ricciardo] was no fool, and he pushed Daniel quite hard. I think Daniel benefited from having him around because it forced him to push himself a bit harder.
“But, in terms of Max himself, you began to see underneath that quite relaxed exterior is a phenomenal inner strength, a sort of mythical armour… not much is going to derail him.
“His confidence has built. He’s driving with a great deal more assuredness now than, say, 2021. He got tangled up with Lewis a few times, didn’t he?
“Now, nothing much fazes him, does it?
“He’s gone from someone who had an expectation or belief and confidence to someone who has realised that expectation and is now one of the very best.”
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