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.

Liam Lawson called his abrupt demotion from his boyhood dream drive at Red Bull "tough" in his first social media post since the news was confirmed.