Bahrain (Round 1/24 – March 2)
With almost total domination in 2023 (19 victories in 22 races), Max Verstappen started the 2024 season escorted by the label of ultra favorite. The content of the pre-season tests held in Bahrain only confirmed the trend that we all feared for the spectacle, with a Dutchman already above the fray and who did not even try to hide it . Slightly challenged in qualifying during the first Grand Prix in Sakhir, Max would finally return to his good old habits. He took the lead when the lights went out, maintained his advantage at turn 1, and went far. Very far away.
At the end of the first lap, he was 1.2 seconds ahead of the second, 8 seconds on the 10th lap and more than 30 when he made the first of his two stops. He never lost the lead in the race, crossing the line as the winner, 22”4 ahead of his teammate Pérez responsible for securing the double. On the evening of Bahrain, the prevailing feeling in the paddock was the following: Max Verstappen's solitary march was inevitable in a new season to come without suspense. A feeling that would be validated over the first five rounds. On the evening of the 5th race in China, he was already 34 points ahead of Charles Leclerc, and even 52 over Lando Norris, all while being forced to retire in Melbourne due to a mechanical problem…
© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI
Miami (Heats 6/24 – 5 never)
After five GPs marked by merciless domination, the race held in Florida could have taken on the appearance of a turning point of the season. Thanks to an aggressive improvement made to Lando Norris' car, McLaren immediately positioned itself as one of the best cars in the field. Helped by perfect timing when exiting the safety car, the Englishman went for his first victory. But to the opportunism was added a breathtaking performance, since the native of Bristol signed a final stint much faster than that of Max Verstappen. Enough to envisage a fight for the title more intense than expected, despite the Dutchman's already notable lead at the top of the championship…
© Antonin Vincent / DPPI
Austria (Channel 11/24 – June 30)
Despite McLaren's awakening in Miami, Max Verstappen remained sovereign during the following four Grands Prix, with three victories and a 6th place while missing his pomp in Monaco (6th). In Austria, however, on his employer's land and in front of a wall of excited oranjes, Lando Norris was going to make his life royally complicated, thanks to his ultra-rapid running pace. These two gave us at Spielberg the tensest weekend of the season, with a lot of fighting and even a bit of crumpled metal. The sprint initially played its role as an appetizer with a gradual build-up in pressure. Lando Norris put on a show in T3 by successfully braking brilliantly to overtake his rival, who responded to him at the next corner by taking advantage of an open door operation.
The next day, weighed down by a pit stop that was too long, Max Verstappen decided to stick out his elbows so as not to let his friend pass who had been irremediably attacking him for nine laps. Between untimely shifts and late braking, these two offered a thriller with twists and turns. Until a painful end of the film marked by contact between the two men, of which Verstappen was found guilty. Enough to truly launch hostilities between the Dutch and the English. “I offered a fair, respectful and borderline fight, but that’s not what I got in return,” denounced Lando. (…) I have nothing to say, it’s up to him to say something, he retorted in the mixed zone, when asked if he would discuss the incident with Max. I didn't do anything wrong, he's the one at fault. He is the one who should react, not me. » The two men eventually ironed out the situation, but would clash again on track later in Austin and Mexico.
© Ton Roelofs / DPPI
Azerbaijan (Round 17/24 – September 15)
While he was running behind a victory since Spain (7 races), and he remained in a very difficult final round at Monza, where the lack of performance earned him a depressing 6th place, Max Verstappen is not arrived very confident in Baku. In addition to the lack of pace in his car, there were difficulties in handling it due to poor adjustment of his car. For the first time this season, he was beaten in qualifying by his teammate Sergio Pérez, who would have also beaten him in the race if he had not been caught in a crash with Carlos Sainz in the final laps. Although Red Bull brought a modified floor to Baku to remedy the balance problems of an RB20 oscillating between understeer and oversteer, the account was still not there. Fortunately for him, the Dutchman took advantage of the elimination in Q1 of Lando Norris to limit the damage to the championship (Norris 4th, Max 5th). After the Monza struggle, Red Bull recognized a change in reality. “We are no longer in the position of the hunted, but of the hunter. It changes the dynamic! » went so far as to say Horner, who despite everything remained in the lead of both championships. If Baku figures in the key moments of the Dutchman's season, it is because it alone represents all those moments where Jos' son superbly limited the damage each time his car was not there. YOU. At that moment, however, his title chances seemed more and more limited, with a 59-point lead but against a Lando Norris with the wind at his back.
© Florent Gooden / DPPI
Brazil (Round 21/24 – November 3)
It's difficult to rank 62 victories in order of importance. The 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix, however, will undoubtedly remain one of the most beautiful races ever achieved by the Dutchman, if not the most beautiful. Because the Batavian had a lot of contrary elements to manage: a faster McLaren, a five-place penalty for changing an engine, and an elimination in Q2, after being trapped by a red flag. The next day, the rain would pose a new challenge as well as a determining factor in his climb from 17th place on the grid. Irresistible during the first ten laps, he made a superb comeback, and took advantage of a red flag at the best of times to gain a free stop and find himself on the podium. He ended up winning the race ahead of the two Alpines, and regained 17 precious points from Lando Norris on a day when he thought he was losing some… In Sao Paulo, Max put one hand and four fingers on the trophy, at the same time as he buried the Lando Norris's title hopes. Concluding in Las Vegas was then just a formality.
© Antonin Vincent / DPPI
