Max Verstappen wins third consecutive Formula One world championship
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is aiming to end Max Verstappen’s reign of dominance in F1 next season. Verstappen and Red Bull stormed both world championships this season but Vasseur expects Verstappen to “make more mistakes” in 2024 as Ferrari looks to pile on the pressure in the New Year.
Ferrari were the only team other than Red Bull to win a race in 2023 when Carlos Sainz Jr shocked the grid with a stunning victory at the Singapore Grand Prix. Prior to that clash at the Marina Bay Street Circuit Verstappen had won 10 races straight.
Yet the win had little impact on the standings. Red Bull picked up the Constructors’ Championship in the next race at Suzuka while Verstappen went on to win the Drivers’ Championship in Qatar.
The Dutchman also became the first driver in the history of the sport to break the coveted 500-point barrier before Red Bull smashed Mercedes’ record for the most amount of points accumulated by a team in a single season.
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The Silver Arrows came the closest to toppling Red Bull in second place but even they were a staggering 451 points adrift of the top spot. Meanwhile, Ferrari were a further three points behind.
Although Vasseur admits Verstappen had a “mega season” he is confident that things can be different next season. “I’m not sure anyone has a doubt about this – he had a mega season,” Vasseur admitted. “He was fighting with Checo [Perez] the first two or three events, but then he was on another planet.
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“Clearly, he didn’t make a mistake the whole season. I think even when he struggled in qualifying – I think in Jeddah – it was due to an issue. And then he was always there, always making good starts with no contact – the only one [when he did] was Vegas.”
“There is no doubting the fact that he was dominating all the season,” he added. “The only issue for us is, as with everybody, he will make more mistakes when he will be under pressure and nobody was able to put him under pressure this season.
“Other than the last two or three events – or Carlos in Singapore – is where he started to do some mistakes or that Red Bull made some mistakes in terms of set-up. We were just too far away to put this kind of pressure on him.”
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