Max Verstappen is convinced he would have won the 2024 Formula 1 world title if he had been driving for McLaren or Ferrari instead of Red Bull.
Verstappen clinched his fourth consecutive crown with two races to spare with a disciplined fifth place in Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking nearest rival Lando Norris out of contention.
The Dutchman started the year with a dominant Red Bull RB20, but then saw McLaren take a giant leap forward in May while Red Bull’s own campaign started stuttering. Ferrari also took turns at the front, as did Mercedes on occasion.
But with Verstappen asserting that for 70 percent of the campaign he didn’t have the fastest machine, he is convinced he would have won it driving his closest rivals’ cars too.
When asked if he could have won the title with McLaren, he replied: “Yes, even earlier, so [I would have been] further ahead. [With the Ferrari], pretty much the same I think. The Mercedes, no. I think that would have been trickier.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Verstappen also commented on him confronting Zak Brown on Sky Sports with the McLaren CEO’s comments that he could only win the title in the dominant Red Bull, when the American came over to congratulate him.
“You know, things like that only motivate me. When people are critical or think I can only win in the best car, I will prove them wrong,” he said. “If I don’t get [that credit] now, then I don’t know what I to do.”
In fairness to Brown, those comments were made right after Norris’ maiden win in May’s Miami Grand Prix, when Verstappen had won four of the first six races and the depth of the RB20’s flaws had yet to fully emerge over time.
Brown’s claims that six or seven drivers could win the title in that Red Bull also looked nowhere near as outlandish then as they would have done today.
When asked whether with the benefit of hindsight anyone else could have won the 2024 title in the Red Bull, Verstappen quipped: “Well, we are in the right place for that question here in Vegas, because you can bet on that!
“All I can say is, I wish them the best of luck with that…”
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