Max Verstappen has claimed he would have wrapped up the 2024 Formula One world title earlier if he had been racing for McLaren instead of Red Bull.
Verstappen clinched his fourth consecutive drivers’ championship crown with two races to spare after finishing ahead of Lando Norris at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Dutchman began the year in dominant fashion with his RB20 challenger a class apart from the rest of the grid, but found himself pegged back after McLaren took a significant leap forward in May while Red Bull began to stutter.
Indeed, both Ferrari and Mercedes also enjoyed race wins at the expense of the Milton Keynes outfit, who are now third in the constructors’ standings.
Asked if he could have won the title at McLaren, Verstappen said: ‘Yes, even earlier, so [I would have been] further ahead. [With Ferrari], pretty much the same I think.
‘The Mercedes, no. I think that would have been trickier.’
Max Verstappen claimed he would have won the 2024 F1 world title earlier with McLaren
The Dutchman wrapped up his fourth straight crown in Las Vegas and celebrated in style
Lando Norris’ title push came to an end after Verstappen finished ahead of him in Sin City
But Verstappen believes he would have enjoyed similar success with McLaren and Ferrari
Verstappen also admitted to being motivated by his critics after McLaren CEO Zak Brown claimed his success was only down to Red Bull’s superior machinery.
The pair shared a joke over Brown’s comments shortly after the race in Sin City.
‘Things like that only motivate me,’ Verstappen added. ‘If people are critical and think that I can only win in the best car, then I prove the opposite.
‘If I don’t get credit for this now, then I don’t know what else I can do.’
Quizzed on whether, with the benefit of hindsight, any other driver could have won the title with Red Bull in 2024, Verstappen quipped: ‘Well, we are in the right place for that question here in Vegas, because you can bet on that!
‘All I can say is, I wish them the best of luck with that.’
Verstappen has joined Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel as a four-time champion with only Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio ahead of him.
Speaking over the radio after the race in Las Vegas, he said: ‘What a season. It was a little more difficult than last season, but we pulled through.’
Verstappen later added: ‘It has been a long season and we started amazing, almost like cruising.
‘Then we had a tough run but we kept it together as a team, kept working on improvements and pulled it over the line.
‘To stand here as a four-time world champion is something I never thought possible so standing here relieved in a way but also proud.’
