A jubilant Max Verstappen is already looking forward to issuing Lewis Hamilton a proper challenge in 2019, after his dominant victory of the Mexico Grand Prix was overshadowed by the Brit clinching his fifth world championship title, and second in succession.
Red Bull were far quicker in the altitude all weekend and after usurping his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who was on pole, with a blistering start, the Dutchman remained in control for much of proceedings to finish clear of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen respectively.
His achievement was in the shade of Hamilton gaining the points necessary to remain top of the sport in 2018, but speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Verstappen said that he is looking at how close the team can get to Mercedes next season.
He said: "It was very important at the start, and into turn one everyone got boxed in and that was nice for me, I had to break deep but Lewis didn't want to risk anything from there I could do my own race and that was crucial.
"This track at such a high altitude cancels out a little bit of the dynamic, but our mechanical grip is even better and we have the downforce advantage here.
"You just want to make sure that nothing happens, and we were that far in the lead that it was ok and we could turn it down.
"I hope we can be a lot closer next year, I think Lewis was the more consistent one fighting for the title and he deserves it."