Verstappen was able to fight for the title thanks to his considerable skill in the car. But the team lost out to both McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors' standings, something that will have had a very considerable impact upon the end-of-year bonuses for Red Bull's hundreds of employees.

It was no shock that rookie Liam Lawson bounced out of the team after just two race weekends. But it does again illustrate just how wrong Red Bull planned this.

Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has explained why Liam Lawson has been dropped from Red Bull Racing ahead of next Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.