Max Verstappen has had a lively 2024 season. Ultra-dominant at the start of the season, the Dutchman seemed launched towards a new exercise without a rival for the world title until the emergence of McLaren and Lando Norris after the Briton’s first victory in Formula 1 during the Miami Grand Prix.
Although he was able to keep his closest pursuer at bay, the now four-time world champion is aware that the Brazilian Grand Prix was a major turning point in this fight. And that it could very well have turned the season in the wrong direction for him who started in 17th position on the starting grid while Lando Norris was at the front.
Brazil, a major turning point in the fight for the title
« A lot of things went through my head, confesses Max Verstappen in the Talking Bull video podcast, published this Thursday, December 26 on the Red Bull team’s YouTube channel. I was obviously very upset about the qualifiers, almost to the point of destroying my room, but when I walked in, my dad was there. He was very calm. I was so angry, then I saw him so calm that it really calmed me down. »
« There were some sad faces that day, as you find yourself starting from 17th while your main rival starts from pole position, adds the Dutchman. This may be a tipping point of the season. Everyone was pretty nervous. It was a rainy day, I like these conditions, I like driving in the rain, but you never know what can or will happen: you can find yourself eliminated or go off the track yourself. The race ran its course and it was good! I really enjoyed it, I felt good with the car and I gradually moved towards the front. As soon as I saw the result, I knew [que c’était un résultat décisif pour le championnat]. »
Finally victorious in difficult conditions while Lando Norris was content with sixth place after making two errors, the driver of the No. 1 single-seater found himself after this weekend with an almost irremediable lead before the meeting of Las Vegas where a fifth place was enough to confirm the world title.
The Las Vegas party after the fourth world title
« I don’t think the Las Vegas race will remain in my top 100 races, admits Verstappen. It wasn’t exactly exciting for me, but I accomplished what I needed to do. That was the most important thing for me. » By being crowned in the City of Vices, Max Verstappen was in the best possible place to celebrate this new coronation.
« It was great, I didn’t sleep, he remembers. I met Martin Garrix (famous Dutch DJ. Ed.) who played there all weekend. I didn’t leave the track until 4:30 in the morning. I had a few drinks. Some people from the team joined us and we had a great time. We laughed a lot. We met at the casino bar around 8:30-9am, some people were having breakfast, others were drinking. It’s Las Vegas. »
Tensions on the track with Norris and social networks
There was even more reason to celebrate as the battle with Lando Norris had become tense during previous Grands Prix, with some heated situations in Austria, Austin and Mexico. For the Dutchman, the rivalry between the two friends was exacerbated by social networks. “ People always make things so much worse on social media, there are a lot of idiots on these platforms, comments Verstappen. They always have something to say, there are a lot of positive people, but there are also some real idiots. It’s best to ignore all of this. Lando and I get along very well. Of course, it was a little tense on the track at times, but that didn’t change anything outside of it. We always try to do our best when we are on the track in order to achieve the best possible result. These kinds of things can happen when you’re fighting for a championship. »
Far from having experienced the domination that everyone promised him at the start of the season, Max Verstappen recognizes all the work done by his team to allow him to win this fourth title. “ It wasn’t the easiest to win, he confesses. We were coming off a season that we had dominated, I didn’t expect that to be the case again, but I also didn’t expect the situation mid-year. I’m very proud of everyone in the team, we stuck together, we didn’t panic, we always tried to find improvements on the car and understand the problems we encountered. We did it very well and we can be proud. »
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