Max Verstappen has argued that a thrilling Formula 1 season in 2024 is not solely reliant on Red Bull, emphasizing that it is also the responsibility of the competition to catch up to his team.
Red Bull has been dominant in the sport since the reintroduction of ground effect cars in 2022, with the reigning World Champions winning all but one of the 22 rounds that took place last season.
Verstappen was responsible for securing 19 of those victories – including a record-breaking 10 consecutive wins between Miami and Monza – as he claimed his third consecutive championship.
However, the Dutch driver asserts that Red Bull’s goal is not to replicate those achievements, but rather to deliver another highly competitive car.
“And from my perspective, I will strive to perform at my best. However, this depends on various factors coming together. Only time will reveal our true speed,” Verstappen stated.
Verstappen also acknowledged that the progress made by rival teams in closing the gap to Red Bull will determine the intensity of the battle at the front.
“And, of course, the other teams are also learning and improving. It’s not solely up to us to determine how exciting the season will be. When there is natural competition among different teams, winning races becomes even more challenging,” he explained.
When asked if he would welcome more competition this season, Verstappen responded, “Yes and no. Naturally, I enjoy winning races, as we did last year. However, for the sport as a whole, it would be beneficial to have more teams competing at the front.”
“We have had some good races, but if the regulations remain unchanged for a while, it will bring the teams closer together,” he added.
With stable regulations in place, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner predicted that multiple cars this season will closely resemble the championship-winning RB19 machine.
Verstappen agreed with Horner’s assessment of the grid converging on similar designs but also anticipates that some teams have not yet revealed their full potential.
McLaren, who emerged as Red Bull’s strongest competitor in 2023, raised eyebrows with certain elements of the floor design on the image renders of their new MCL38 challenger.
“It’s difficult to determine how competitive everyone will be,” Verstappen commented on the car launches of other teams before testing.
“I do notice a trend in the designs between teams, but there are also some intriguing details, particularly related to the front wing. However, teams do not reveal everything during the car launch, so we must wait until Bahrain to see the true performance of each car.”
According to the Source motorsportweek.com