3 days Ago By Jack McEachen
Max Verstappen was left bewildered that he was able to build up a considerable lead at the top of the 2024 Drivers’ Championship, which aided the Dutchman in his battle to fend off Lando Norris . The 27-year-old won his fourth title in a row, 63 points clear of second-placed Norris, despite McLaren , Ferrari and Mercedes all gaining ground on Red Bull as the campaign went on. He won four of the first five races of the season and Verstappen could not believe that his rivals were not at a similar pace to start the year, only for them to adapt and go on to mount a serious challenge at the top of the grid.
And Verstappen has since twisted the knife, especially into McLaren and Norris, who were his closest challengers. Verstappen explained that he found it “strange” that the gap at the top was not been cut into more. "I was more like: 'I didn't understand why the rest was so slow',” he told Viaplay.
“Of course we continued to develop, but also during testing...
The car was of course going reasonably well, but we also had our limits. I thought it was very strange that we were still so much ahead. "Also if you look at the end of the previous season then there were a few matches where it was close and where it became a bit more difficult.
I really expected that people would make big steps during the winter. Or at least the same steps that we had made. But that was not the case in the first four weekends.
” Verstappen clinched his title in Las Vegas with a fifth-placed finish at the street circuit, but crucially one place ahead of Norris, having won just one race between then and the Spanish Grand Prix in June. At the beginning of the season, Verstappen appeared set to continue his dominance into another year, but the four-time world champion insisted that neither he nor Red Bull were getting carried away by their prospects. "No, not at all,” Verstappen said if there was an inside joke over him coasting to another title.
“We had already said to each other after 2023: that season was of course incredible, but we shouldn't go into the season now and think that we can repeat that. “That's also not realistic if you look at the current regulations. That's almost impossible.
It was really a matter of looking at it race by race, how it went." But with Verstappen surprised he was able to maintain such a lead in the title battle, even with Red Bull faltering, it may strike fear into his rivals if the team can get firing on all cylinders again with their driver full of confidence..
