Max Verstappen winning the 2021 world championship in the most dramatic fashion is a topic that still runs hot within the F1 community. For everyone at Red Bull, the experience was extraordinary. However, for Steve Knowles, what he saw that evening in Abu Dhabi was somewhat bittersweet.
Knowles is a former Mercedes engineer and was part of the Brackley-based outfit between 2014 and 2021. In his last season with the team, he witnessed the controversial ending to the season from the wrong end of the garage. He saw his then-rival team Red Bull, celebrate Verstappen’s victory over Lewis Hamilton well into the night.
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The ending to Knowles’ time with the Silver Arrows may have been marred by the events of Yas Island that evening. However, he provides a deep insight into how the engineers and mechanics felt in the Mercedes garage that evening following Verstappen’s win.
Knowles, who is now with Red Bull, insists that he feels “privileged to have been on both sides”.
“Even being on the other side of it, there was a huge amount of respect for Max. And his pace and his driving,” he says in a YouTube video posted by Red Bull.
Knowles went on to say that even at Mercedes, everyone knew that both Verstappen and Hamilton deserved to win the world championship that year. Even though, it was sad on his part to see Hamilton lose out on title number eight.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking over the baton of dominance from Mercedes
Between 2014 and 2020, Mercedes was virtually unstoppable. Steve Knowles oversaw Lewis Hamilton winning six world championships with the team and contributed to eight consecutive constructors’ titles.
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However, 2021 saw a shift in dynamics. Red Bull dealt with the regulation changes of 2022 better than anyone else on the grid. This allowed them to kickstart their era of dominance, with Max Verstappen at the helm.
Verstappen dominated the 2022 season winning 15 races, and outshined his results by winning 19 on his way to a third world championship this year. As things stand, Red Bull is still the favorite to win the championship in 2024, although Knowles’ old team is desperate to get back to the top again.
