Max Verstappen declares career end target as Red Bull make rival warning – F1 news round-up

Henry Valantine 11 Dec 2023 10:00 PM

Max Verstappen raises his fists in celebration. F1 news

Can Max Verstappen and Red Bull be toppled in 2024?

Monday’s F1 news has come from a variety of worlds, as we caught up with Johnny Herbert and Max Verstappen declared his career endgame to Swiss media.

With a host of other headlines to bring you, we won’t waste any of your time – so let’s just jump straight in.

With additional reporting from Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper, here are the best of Monday’s F1 news headlines.

Max Verstappen wants out of F1 in next decade

Still at the peak of his powers at 26, three-time reigning World Champion Max Verstappen is “certain” that he will not be in the sport in 10 years’ time.

His current contract with Red Bull runs until the end of 2028, though nothing is yet known about how much longer he wants to stay in F1 beyond that.

Speaking to Swiss publication Blick about where F1 will be in 10 years’ time, Verstappen said: “The gasoline will probably be gone, but our sport is already becoming greener and more sustainable. Only one thing is certain: Max Verstappen will no longer be there!”

Charles Leclerc ‘mistakes’ pointed out as key difference to title chances

Johnny Herbert spoke to PlanetF1.com at the recent Autosport Awards, and gave his thoughts on what Charles Leclerc needs to do to put himself in title-winning contention when the moment comes.

None of his last 12 pole positions have been converted to victories for a variety of factors, but to elevate himself to Hamilton/Verstappen levels, the errors need to be ironed out of the Ferrari driver’s work.

“If I was to be critical, the only thing that I suppose we’ve all seen are those mistakes,” Herbert exclusively told PlanetF1.com. “And those mistakes is something you don’t see from Max, you don’t really see that from Lewis.

“There have been a couple maybe in the last couple of years but I think overall, when he was winning the championships, they did not happen.

“That’s the strength of the guys who become World Champions, you go all the way back to Senna and Prost and Lauda and people like that, they just have that ability to do it every single time without making the errors that we do see other drivers make.”

Christian Horner offers Toto Wolff advice

Mercedes have a “massive challenge” ahead of them, according to Christian Horner, to try and rebuild and challenge after two seasons of being the proverbial bridesmaids in the Constructors’ Championship.

But from team principal to team principal, with Horner having been in that position for a long while as Mercedes dominated the sport, he offered his thoughts on how Wolff could deal with things at the Silver Arrows, telling the Sky Sports F1 podcast: “I think that it’s making sure that people believe in themselves and trying to instil a confidence.

“And it’s inevitable that when you’ve been winning for a long period of time that, when suddenly you’re not winning, then that’s when fingers start getting pointed and the team gets truly challenged during that period.

“And that’s where I’m particularly proud at Red Bull. During the period that we weren’t able to be in a winning position, which was largely out of our control, we were still winning races in every single year, two or three races. Bar 2015, we won a minimum of two or three races every year. At the places that we could do so, where the engine disadvantage was nullified.”

Toto Wolff not yet worried about concerns of ‘spectacle problem’ in F1

The drivers were saying all season that overtaking and following was becoming more difficult, and the FIA’s data backed that up as the teams have been adding downforce to their cars.

This is only natural as the cars develop, but is also antithetical to the aim of the 2022 regulations, with the cars designed with the aim of reducing ‘dirty air’ and improving racing.

While it’s not a problem just yet, the problem of overheating tyres while following another car is creeping back into the sport, and Toto Wolff wants to see how the new tyres react to it in 2024 before drawing a judgement.

“Let’s wait and see how it goes, and let’s see how the Pirelli tyres are going to handle next year’s cars,” he told media including PlanetF1.com.

“But it is, when you’re looking [at it], overtaking has gotten worse, and it’s all about thermal management – so I’d like to have races like Qatar, where you just go flat out.”

Lando Norris taking heart from behind-the-scenes McLaren work

There’s been a big year of change at McLaren in terms of their off-track management structure, and Lando Norris has paid tribute to those who have already been a big part of their improvement, and is excited for those to come.

David Sanchez is moving across from Ferrari, as is Rob Marshall from Red Bull as McLaren continue their push towards the front, and the Briton is ready to hit the ground running next season.

“I’m very excited,” Norris told media including PlanetF1.com as he looked ahead to F1 2024. “If we just start the season how we were in the middle, we’re P2 in the Constructors’ and P2 in the Drivers’.

“I know it doesn’t always work like that, but we’re on the right track, that’s what I’m trying to say.

“We have some new hirings, the guys coming in in 2024, so maybe not everything that they can bring to us we would have on the car straightaway, but some things that we just already know now and we’ve learned already over the last four, five, six months. From the progress we’ve made, we’ve learned a lot.

“I’m excited just because we’re finally on the right track and we know which direction to push. I just want to start the season off well. If we can start well in Bahrain, then I’ll be a lot more excited.”