Max Verstappen, the reigning triple consecutive world champion, has cast a keen eye on the competition he expects to face in the 2024 Formula 1 season. Speaking at a sim racing event in Amsterdam, Verstappen shared his thoughts on the upcoming challenges, hinting at a more closely contested championship.
Dutch broadcaster NOS quoted the 26-year-old Red Bull driver acknowledging the improbability of replicating his 2023 dominance. “Running the same season will be almost impossible,” he said. “We will of course try to develop our car further, but the other teams have learned a lot from us. I don’t hope there will be more competition, but I expect there to be.”
Verstappen, who led Red Bull to score more than double the points of its closest rivals, Mercedes and Ferrari, this year, is also keeping a watchful eye on another team. When asked about his most anticipated rival for 2024, he said, “That is very difficult to estimate. Every weekend it was a different team that was doing well. McLaren seemed to be right there for a while, but then they had a dip again. But they seem to know which way to go and have good people working there.”
Besides McLaren, Verstappen expects Mercedes and Ferrari to pose significant challenges. “At Mercedes they will also want to win again, and Ferrari also knows what they have to do,” he added.
Reflecting on the past season, Verstappen noted that despite Red Bull’s overall success, they did not always dominate qualifying sessions. “It will automatically be closer together next year,” he predicted. “You also saw in qualifying already this season that it was not always easy for us.”
