Red Bull tackle ‘nonsense’ Max Verstappen F1 2024 RB19 suggestion
Most drivers would be delighted with even half the success Max Verstappen had in 2023.
No, Max Verstappen could not win the 2024 Drivers’ Championship title racing last year’s RB19, Helmut Marko scoffing at that suggestion.
Last season Max Verstappen was in a league of his own as he raced to a third successive World title with not even his own team-mate able to keep pace with him.
Overtaking Sergio Perez on the track at round five in Miami, Verstappen went on a 10-race winning streak that meant the title race was all but mathematically over by the summer break.
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He officially wrapped it up with a P2 in Qatar’s Sprint, doing so with six Grands Prix to spare before ending the season on 575 points, more than double that of second-placed Perez.
It was a master class from the Dutchman with his season’s stats sitting at 19 wins and 21 podiums from 22 Grands Prix, and four wins and six podiums in six Sprints.
Such was his prowess it has been suggested he could drive last year’s RB19 and still win this year’s Drivers’ title.
Marko scoffed at that one.
“That’s nonsense,” he told OE24 before going on to highlight McLaren’s in-season gains as the main reason that could not happen.
“Last year we had the B McLaren already come close on certain tracks, but they were not consistent enough.”
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Verstappen will instead have the new RB20 at his disposal this season with the latest Adrian Newey creation drawing inspiration from last year’s Mercedes.
The drivers conducted a shakedown at the Silverstone circuit earlier this week before the team officially unveiled the car on Thursday.
Verstappen and Perez will be back out on track next week when pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain on 21 February.
Marko reckons this year’s RB20 is better than last year’s car, but concedes Red Bull won’t know for sure until it’s up against its rivals.
“That will become clear during the tests in Bahrain next week,” Marko added. “What you can already say is that the new car is an evolution of last year’s car, and we had the best package.
“If we eliminate the few weak points, not much should go wrong. But who knows, maybe a competitor has managed a special trick during development.”
The teams will be action for just three days in Bahrain before the season begins a week later on 29 February with the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for the Saturday.
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