'Somebody Will Challenge' Verstappen Next Year Says Steiner Amid Hamilton Claim

Friday, 29 December 2023 at 13:00

Guenther Steiner, the team principal of the only American Formula One team on the grid, recently stated he believes the 2024 season won't be as easy for Max Verstappen.

Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen dominated the 2023 season so much that he made it look easy. On the other hand, we saw it wasn't as easy with his teammate Sergio Perez.

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said it would be unfair to call the 2023 season easy for the Dutchman as he showed incredible consistency and performed well under all unfavorable circumstances.

While the triple World Champion didn't find a challenger during the most recent season. Guenther Steiner told Sky F1 he believes somebody will stand up to the Dutchman in 2024.

"I think somebody will challenge Max next year. I think that we will have that one in F1 2024."

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There are four teams currently that are most likely to make a step forward significant enough to compete for the championship - Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin.

The triple World Champion suggested it could be any of the four teams named above, as each of them was the second best at some point of the season.

But when he was asked to pick one team that could make a big enough step forward, Verstappen chose McLaren, who went from last place on the grid to collecting 9 podiums in 2023.

Steiner also sees Lewis Hamilton as a possible threat to the Dutchman as he seems to be hungry for his eighth World Championship title and doesn't seem to be planning a retirement at the moment.

"For me, Lewis [Hamilton] I don’t think he will stop. Physically, you would never think he’s 38 or next year 39. He is very fit and I don’t think he’s ready to stop doing it because he likes what he does."

Mercedes is currently working on some significant changes to the car, and it remains a question whether Silver Arrows could produce a fast enough car to match the speed of Red Bull with Max Verstappen.