Red Bull Racing came away with Formula One history on Oct. 23, but much of social media was fixated on a viral moment that didn't involve a racecar.
Max Verstappen overcame a bungled pit stop on the 36th of 56 laps at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
During the stop, the Red Bull pit crew struggled to find a replacement wheel gun they needed because the front left tire of Verstappen's car had not been tightened correctly.
Verhappen was able to clear that hurdle and finished first, earning the Constructor's Championship and tying the single season record for race wins with 13. Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel are the only other drivers with that many wins in one campaign.
The team had dedicated the race to the memory of Red Bull Racing founder Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire who also co-founded the Red Bull energy drink. Mateschitz, 78, died just one day before the race.
"This one was for Dietrich," wrote Verstappen on Twitter.
Twitter Pokes Fun at Tim Cook's Flag Skills
Mateschitz, the recipient of posthumous praise, was not the only billionaire getting attention at the race. But something quite different than praise is what Apple CEO Tim Cook received on social media after obtaining the honor of waving the checkered flag at the finish line.
The moment only appeared on television for a few seconds, but Twitter users had fun with what they saw. The video, shown below in posts on the microblogging site, reveals some lackluster flag-waving as Cook performs a ritual that is generally seen with more enthusiasm.
"Tim Cook waving that flag as if he's having to touch a Windows PC," jokes @tomwarren.
User @cjzero posts that the video shows "Tim Cook waving the checkered flag with the enthusiasm of me doing a software update on my phone."
"Going into Monday with the same enthusiasm as Tim Cook," writes @EngineMode11.
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin
The race was held at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), making it the 10th anniversary of Formula One's first outing there. Austin is one of 12 different venues to host F1 racing in the United States, 10 of which have hosted the US Grand Prix.
The original layout was first devised by promoter Tavo Hellmund and the 1993 Motorcycle World Championship Champion Kevin Schwantz. They also called in engineer and former driver Hermann Tilke to assist.
The design features some of the most-celebrated sections from historic European racetracks. A piece of it is remarkably similar to Silverstone's popular Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence. It also compares to Hockenheim's arena bends. One turn reminds fans of Istanbul's turn eight.
"The track took four months to lay when COTA was first built, but as it’s on a soft clay-like soil, it has moved over the years as it has settled," explains Red Bull Racing's Website. "This has caused the track to become bumpy over the years. After complaints from drivers and in particular MotoGP riders that the track was becoming unsafe, the owners chose to repair and resurface the track in 2019."
