Verstappen And McLaren To Win Championship In 2024 According To Hill

Wednesday, 14 August 2024 at 18:00

1996 Champion Damon Hill predicted the 2024 Formula One Championship winners, saying it would be Max Verstappen and McLaren.

Going into his home Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Max Verstappen still leads the Drivers' Championship quite comfortably and many of his fans claim it is now already inevitable that he will secure the title.

Damon Hill tends to agree that it's going to be very difficult for anyone to try to overturn the triple World Champion's lead. On the other hand, he also doesn't think that the 26-year-old Red Bull Racing driver will have it easy. He said in the latest episode of the F1 Nation podcast:

"My gut reaction is that it is going to be a tall order to stop Max Verstappen in a Red Bull. I know everyone is catching, but he has shown that he is prepared to fight every inch of the track to keep those victories and he is able to pull results out of the hat."

"He will really have to fight for this championship, so whether they can come up with a little bit more pace for him on the development of the car, I am sure they can, but he is still going to be chased all the way through to the end."

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Lando Norris, in second place, would have to close the gap to Verstappen by more than 7,8 points on average every single race weekend if he wants to win.

While it is possible, Norris hasn't managed to outperform the Dutchman in five of the last six Grand Prix races. If this trend continues, the 26-year-old will win the title.

Ultimately, Hill believes the Red Bull Racing driver will win his fourth title at the end of this year. However, the Cosntructors' title, in his opinion, will go to McLaren.

"It's going be Max by a whisker and the Constructors' championship will be won by McLaren. I think it's going to go down to at least Brazil."

"You still need luck to win races and whilst you can have an advantage and win by a whisker, which is what we’re seeing with Max at the moment, you only need one drop out and that’s 26 points with the fastest lap out the window."