Max Verstappen isn’t backing down from his bold claim that he could’ve won the 2024 F1 championship earlier if he’d been driving McLaren’s MCL38 instead of his Red Bull.
The three-time world champion, who clinched his fourth title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, is sticking to what he said about McLaren’s car being championship-worthy.
“I would answer this question with a resounding yes for McLaren,” Verstappen told Blick when asked if he could’ve won in other cars. But he wasn’t so confident about Ferrari’s chances.
McLaren’s team bosses don’t quite see it the same way. They point out that the gap was just too big after the first seven race weekends to make up.
The 2024 season started out looking like a replay of 2023, with Verstappen and Red Bull dominating from the front. But things weren’t as smooth as they appeared.
“Even with the good start, not everything was as easy as it seemed,” Verstappen admitted. “After three wins, we knew we had a bigger problem.”
The real struggles came after summer break, when Red Bull’s performance took a noticeable dip. Despite this, Verstappen managed to hold onto his lead in the drivers’ standings.
What really frustrated the team was their inability to pinpoint the issue. “The bad thing was that we didn’t understand what went wrong,” the Dutch champion explained.
His eventual victory in Las Vegas, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, finally sealed the deal on his fourth world title – even if he thinks he could’ve done it sooner in a different car.
