Verstappen Adjusts His Expectations For 2024 As He Expects Other Teams To Catch Up
F1Sunday, 10 December 2023 at 15:00
Triple World Champion Max Verstappen noted he would be okay with winning the Championship only with ten race wins as the field converges and competition increases in 2024.
Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen reflected on his 2024 season recently and admitted it will be almost impossible to ever replicate the success that he and his team achieved.
The Dutchman broke numerous individual records, from the most wins and points scored in the season to the most laps led and the biggest gap to the second driver in the Championship. He told the media:
"Realistically, it can't be much better than what we have achieved. But I think it's not always about trying to win 20 races, it's also about just trying to find improvements within yourself and within the car."
Ferrari's team principal explained Formula One is not about how big of a step forward you make as a team but about how big of a step forward you make in comparison to other teams.
It seems beyond Red Bull's capabilities to keep making huge steps forward in comparison to other teams so Verstappen adjusts his expectations.
"If that means actually we have improved the car and we can fight for the championship again but only win 10 races, that's also fine."
What plays into the 26-year-old's cards is that the remaining nine teams still don't completely understand their cars, which is reflected in the oscillating results throughout the season.
"The competition around us has been quite up and down; one weekend, it's this team, and the other week, it's another team."
But overall, the gap between Red Bull and teams like Ferrari, McLaren, or Mercedes has been coming down towards the end of the season. Verstappen added:
"So I expect next year, people are learning a lot with this new regulation as well, that naturally [the field] will be quite a bit closer."
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