There was never a case of 'who will Red Bull back as their champion' like we see with McLaren today. The Dutchman obliterated any type of rivalry with team-mate Sergio Perez, who didn't even accumulate half of Verstappen's 2023 total points tally, with Verstappen instead delivering a clear statement that he was the No 1 driver.

The former world champion noticed how uplifted Yuki Tsunoda was during his first race weekend with Laurent Mekies as the new Red Bull team principal.

Advisor Helmut Marko issued the strongest confirmation yet, leaving Red Bull’s top brass with a clear task going into next season.