Max Verstappen reflects on his fourth F1 title win and the circumstances that led to it, as Christian Horner praises his maturity level.
When the 2024 F1 season started, it looked an easy route for Red Bull’s Verstappen to his fourth title – such was the domination. But as the season progressed, it all started to go downhill. The updates didn’t work where the competition started to roar themselves in it.
Ferrari was already looking good, but McLaren made huge strides and Mercedes were on and off poking their nose in too. This made things difficult for Red Bull where Verstappen tried to hold on, but Sergio Perez started to drop further down which hurt them in the constructors’.
The lead there started to trim and well into the second half, both McLaren and Ferrari were firmly in control, relegating Red Bull to third. On the drivers’ side, Verstappen held on. Lando Norris became his closest rival and for once, it looked like the Brit could take on the Dutchman.
But it was not to be. Other drivers started to eat into Norris’ chances, and the Brit too committed some mistakes, while Verstappen salvaged as much. The maturity from the Dutchman and the consistency received much praise from Red Bull chief Horner, who reflected on a tough fourth title.
Verstappen, himself, opened up on the long journey which looked easier at the start but only started to be a hectic fight by the middle of the season. The commanding lead built at the start came handy at the end and he sealed his fourth one at the first chance he got in Las Vegas.
Fourth title, how it was on the whole –
Verstappen: “Yeah, I mean, the beginning was quite, let’s say, a bit messy, but I think I’m quite calm in those situations. I think it’s very difficult to disturb me with anything. I’m very focused on the racing side of things. And I know that when I sit in the car, I forget about everything, even positive, negative stuff. And I just focus on what’s ahead of me, and that’s performance, and drive the car as fast as I can. Regarding where it ranks, I mean, every championship has actually been very different in emotions.
“It will never top the emotions of the first one because that is what you set out to do and that’s your ultimate dream and goal to win one. So that was mass civilization, but then you know, the season has been very different to the second one and last year’s one. And that’s, I think, very beautiful, because if they’re all fairly similar, that’s not as exciting. And honestly, when I crossed the line, I was just very relieved. I was like, it’s over. It’s been a tough run of races, and I’m very happy that it rained in Brazil.”
Horner: “I think this was, together with 2021, the toughest. This one, we started the season very strongly. But by Miami, it was clear that McLaren had made a significant step. But Max, when you look back at the season as a whole, and you think back to the races he won in Imola and Barcelona and Montreal, that were all very tough, closely fought races. Through the summer months, when we were struggling a bit with the car, he was still second in Silverstone, second in Zandvoort. He was still picking up big podiums and results and behind the scenes, was putting a massive amount of effort in, with the engineers and designers and on the simulator, more than any of the previous years. I think he’s been outstanding this year. Not only what he’s done in the cockpit, and I think he’s inspired within the cockpit, but out of the cockpit as well.
“The way he’s conducted himself, the way he’s worked with the engineers, and all the technical staff, has been phenomenal. Monza was still long way in the championship to go and we had a significant disadvantage to McLaren, Ferrari and even Mercedes at that point. I think the engineers have worked tirelessly, and the men and women behind the scenes have worked long hours, early mornings, weekends to keep getting performance to the car. For me, a real turning point was Austin, getting a sprint race victory there, getting on the front row for the grand prix, the podium that he scored there. And then, of course, Brazil was really the crowning moment in many respects, it was such an outstanding drive that provided the match point. And he converted it in Las Vegas. Regarding McLaren’s chances, I would say it was about right. Since Miami, I would say that was a turning point. And the car was difficult to drive. It was very difficult to drive.
“But he was able to adapt and get the most out of it. I think we’ve improved it in latter races. But certainly around Monza time, it looked like the championship was slipping away. And so, I think this one is a very special victory because obviously there have been challenges this year. But I think that Max scored more than double the amount of race wins than any other driver. He’s won it with two races to go. He’s been head and shoulders the best driver on the grid in Formula 1, and I think what he’s really done this year is absolutely cement his position amongst the greats in the sport. And I think that both statistically and on the way that he’s driven, that’s unquestionable.”
Highs, lows of the year –
Verstappen: “I mean, most of the highs, I think, were in the beginning of the season where we were still competitive and winning races. And it seemed like a little bit of a repeat of last year in the beginning. And then the lows, I would say, I mean, tough times are definitely the ones in the middle where we were struggling for pace, not making the podiums even. But we always maximised our results. We just kept it together in a way. I mean, to be honest with you, when I look back at this season, probably in 20 years’ time, when I’m retired, Las Vegas ’24, as a race, is not going to be in my top 10.
“But it’s still very special to win it here. And just looking back at that season that we had. I would say there were quite a few lows, but in a way, they also taught me a lot about myself, the team, how we kept it together. And that’s what I’m also very proud of, how we handled it all and still came out on top.”
Maintaining calm in all of this –
Verstappen: “For me personally, you know, I don’t really ever think about the mental side because for me, that’s not really. Yeah, I mean, for me, when I sit in the car, I just try to go flat out, do everything I can. And when I come home, I want to focus on other stuff. But at times, of course, it’s quite frustrating when you’ve had such a run of results last year. You come into this year and it’s, again, going quite well. Of course, I always thought to myself already after last year, like don’t expect another year like that. It’s very rare that those things happen.
“But then at one point, you know, the car was also just really difficult to drive. And then it was about just working together with the team, because when you have these tough moments, it can also be very demotivating. You know, like whatever, you know, I give up on this. But then those moments are actually very important to keep it together and actually work harder and try to understand what is going on. Because even those moments you give up, you are going to give up the championship as well.”
Horner: “Well, look, of course it is a team, and he’s been inspirational from within the cockpit because weekend in, weekend out, he’s been delivering. And he’s driven brilliantly this year, and that obviously inspires the rest of the team. I think that his self-confidence, his self-belief, you only have to watch the outlap at the beginning of any Grand Prix weekend to see the level of confidence, the level of self-belief that he has in himself. And I think he’s driven with real maturity this year because we haven’t had the fastest car at every race. And on the days that we haven’t had the fastest car, he’s made sure that he’s extracted the absolute best out of it and scored big points. I mean, the last couple of years he’s won at a canter, you know, this one he’s had to really dig deep.
“And he’s applied himself, he’s worked hard, he’s put the mileage in, he’s gone the extra yard with the engineers, spending time talking to the designers, to the R&D, you know, there’s 1,000 people in our team that make these incredible cars. And, you know, you need all of the departments to be working collectively to deliver big results and I think what Max has done is he’s really helped to inspire that and given phenomenal feedback and direction from what he’s needed when the tools weren’t, you know, the wind tunnel wasn’t correlating with the track. It was his feedback that was enabled us to focus on this is the area you need to work on. I think the way that he races now and I think that he’d love to win every race, but on the days that he can’t win, he’s taking the maximum points, Zandvoort being a classic example of that or Singapore or Silverstone.
“And I think, he’s looking at the bigger picture now and that just comes with experience and I think that, he’s got huge maturity, but it means so much to him. You heard the emotion, I don’t know, I haven’t seen his press conference, I don’t know what he was like in the press conference, but it really means a huge amount to him and he’s not a guy that fame sits comfortably with, he doesn’t call, you know, adulation, he just loves driving fast cars and, he’s a unique guy and he deserves all the plaudits that this season and his driving this season that he’s produced.”
Challenge from Lando Norris –
Verstappen: “I would say from Miami onwards, most of the time we were not the quickest anymore. And Miami is still very early on in the season. So, you know, 50 points, 60 points, they can very easily be overturned if you keep maximising results and not do anything crazy. So, I mean, I’ve experienced that myself, being 30, 40 points down. I think in ‘22. Anything is possible, so I had that always in the back of my mind, but at the same time, it’s just focus on what I could control within the team and just give it everything every single weekend. As for him being a contender, I mean, we have a lot of incredible young talent in the sport and Lando is definitely one of them. And of course, at times, he made it very difficult for me.
“We simply didn’t have an answer in many races where they were just clearly faster. So that made it, of course, difficult. But to win a championship, you need to be consistent. Sometimes you try to overperform. It doesn’t happen every weekend, but sometimes you can. And that’s what we did. But of course, McLaren at the moment, you know, they’re extremely strong. And of course, you know, Lando, I know him, of course, for a long time already. So also to race a friend of yours to the title is always a little bit different. But I think we have a lot of respect for each other. And yeah, well, I’m sure that we’ll have many more battles to come.”
Horner: “I mean, Lando, since Miami, has had a faster car, and you look at the win ratio, it’s heavily stacked in Max’s favour. So that’s saying nothing away from Lando. He’s driven very well this year, but I think Max has just been that step ahead.”
Team spirit –
Horner: “I think in any adversity, adversity will always galvanise a team, and that’s certainly what has happened with this team. And I think that there’s huge pride in this championship, that often there’s noise or speculation, and all of that’s been ignored. Most of all by Max. He hasn’t been distracted. He’s just got in and got on with the job. And I think that there’s obviously areas that we need to improve for next year, and the team’s very focused, very hard on that and how we build on this fourth consecutive championship.”
Here’s recap of how he won: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/how-max-verstappen-won-his-fourth-world-title.1816611744367216733
Here’s initial reactions: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-las-vegas-grand-prix-max-verstappen-clinches-title-number-four-under-the-las-vegas-lights.1816588871133004980
Here’s Lando Norris, Andrea Stella on Max Verstappen
Here’s how F1 Las Vegas GP panned out
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
