Dr. Helmut Marko predicted that
Red Bull would win 3 races in
2019 in their first year partnership with Honda, and that is exactly what they achieved, though he would argue they could have won more.
Max won brilliantly in
Austria, and then in a rain soaked chaotic race in
Germany, and a brilliant head-to-head victory against
Hamilton in
Brazil, somewhat payback for losing out on victory in
Hungary where Hamilton passed him on fresher tyres near the end of the race. Verstappen had a few off races, colliding with
Raikkonen twice in
Belgium. In
Italy he started from the back and knocked his front wing, and eventually finished 8th, and he was punted off in
Japan by
Leclerc. Verstappen truly established himself as a credible title challenger if his car was competitive throughout the year, something they hope will be the case in 2020.
New team-mate
Albon drove the second half of the year, and had a slightly easier task of a more developed
RB15 than
Gasly had. He seemed to do a lot of come-back drives, showing potential and good overtaking. It remains to be seen if he can get closer to Max in 2020, but he was unlucky to be punted off a podium finish in Brazil by a rare mistake from Hamilton.
Minichamps released their version of the early season car with Max and Pierre in respectively.
 |
| Minichamps 410190033 |
Personally, I think the matte paintwork on the Minichamps model is spot on, I don't think the
Spark model is quite as good. The only other bigger difference between this and the Spark model is the size of the airbox above the driver's head, the Minichamps one being much larger and for me more accurate.
 |
| Minichamps 410190010 |
A great effort from Minichamps in my opinion, these newer models are fantastic.
Score: 8/10
Verstappen Collection Models
Whilst Spark have been releasing a number of special versions, the Max Verstappen shop have released two versions already, one based on the Australian GP, which is the same as the standard model, albeit with different tyres, and they have done a pre-season shakedown livery which sold out almost instantly.
 |
| Minichamps 4131999333 Max Verstappen Collection No. 40 |
 |
| Minichamps 413190133 Max Verstappen Collection No. 42 |
 |
Minichamps 413190933 Max Verstappen Collection No. 44
|
 |
Minichamps 413191133 Max Verstappen Collection No.45
|
