Max Verstappen’s championship press conference – all Formula 1 news 2024

Fifth place at the finish of the Las Vegas Grand Prix guaranteed Max Verstappen the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship title. After the finish, the Red Bull Racing driver held a press conference for the championship, where he answered questions from journalists.

Question: Max Verstappen, you are a four-time world champion. How nice does that sound?
Max Verstappen: Yes, that sounds great. When you grow up racing, you see the stats of legendary drivers and you think, “This is all very impressive. Hopefully one day I can get on the podium, win a race, maybe a title.”

Winning just one race is very difficult, but if you have luck on your side and you are in the right team at the right time, more victories can be achieved. I think this applies more to the first three titles.

This year we started the season well, but then there were a series of difficult races where our car was certainly not the fastest, but we remained a united team. We worked very hard on the basics and stayed calm most of the time. And they made almost no mistakes. Most of the time we managed to make the best of it or even achieve more than we could have imagined.

Moreover, our opponents did not always earn all the points they could. All these things are important when you fight for the title.

Question Christian Horner believes you have had your most impressive season. Do you agree with him?
Max Verstappen: I think so too. Last year I had a dominant car, but I always had the feeling that not everyone fully appreciated our team performance of ten wins in a row. Of course the car dominated, but not as much as people thought.

Without a doubt, 2023 was my best season. I will always remember him because even on those tracks where the settings were not ideal, we still won because the car was fast. But I will also be proud of 2024, because 70% of the season we didn’t have the fastest car, but we still increased the lead. I’m certainly very proud of it.

Q: You said you didn’t have the fastest car for 70% of the season. Did you ever doubt that you could win the title?
Max Verstappen: You should always believe in yourself, but in the end it all depends on many people working together and on the machine. Halfway through the season we had a lot of problems and didn’t fully understand what was happening. But I am very happy and proud of the way the team responded to the problems and turned things around. At one point we seemed lost, but now everything is back to normal.

I believe that the result of the race in Vegas is more of an exception, as it is very cold here and the track is quite specific. I believe that starting in Austin, we were able to turn the tide and get back into contention. This is an honor for the entire team. The season proved difficult for us, especially the Constructors’ Championship battle, but at least we won the title in the individual competition.

Q: Let’s talk about Lando Norris, your opponent for the title this year. You’ve always believed in yourself, but what was it like fighting him?
Max Verstappen: There are many incredible young talents in Formula 1 and Lando is certainly one of them. Sometimes he made my life very difficult. We just didn’t have the answers in many races where they were faster than us. All this, of course, made the task more complicated.

To win a title you have to perform consistently, but sometimes you can also overdo it. Of course, this doesn’t happen every weekend, but sometimes it happens. And that’s what we did when McLaren looked particularly strong.

I’ve known Lando well for a long time. Fighting for a title with a friend is different from fighting another racer. Lando and I have a lot of respect for each other. I’m sure we’ll have many more fights with him.

Q: You had a dominant car at the start of the season, winning four of the first five races, but the team was under a lot of scrutiny. How difficult was it for you in that situation?
Max Verstappen: The beginning of the season was hectic, but I think I remained calm in that situation. It’s very difficult for me to get distracted by anything because I’m completely focused on racing. I knew that when I’m in the cockpit, I forget everything positive and negative. I am completely focused on work and driving as fast as possible.

Question: Max, you already have four titles, while Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher each have seven. Do you think you can catch up or even surpass them?
Max Verstappen: To do this, you need to maintain momentum and play in a team that can achieve such results over a long period of time. But I’m not saying that I will definitely achieve this. But when it works, it works.

I am already very proud of four titles. Ultimately one or seven titles – they’re the same, aren’t they? Although it is nice if you manage to achieve this result several times.

If there is another opportunity to win the title, and now that I know I can do it even if I am not driving the fastest car, then of course I will give it my all. In addition, I have grown as a rider in recent years and have become more versatile in a sense.

It is of course always interesting what results you can achieve next year. We don’t know this now because we don’t know how competitive we will be. Right now I’m just enjoying the moment.

Question: How will you celebrate?
Max Verstappen: Well, I’m out of beer [на пресс-конференции Макс сидел с банкой пива в руках и периодически отпивал из неё]. I don’t know, maybe I’ll have one more and then switch to another drink. I don’t have to drive anymore. The message “Don’t drink and drive” works fine. Today I don’t have to drive anymore.

Q: Can you compare the emotions of winning the fourth title to the emotions of winning the first three?
Max Verstappen: Each title was very different in terms of emotion. Nothing will surpass the emotions you experience from your first title, because at this moment you will achieve your main goal. And the emotions from the second title are different from the emotions from the third. I love this because if they were all the same it wouldn’t be as interesting.

When I crossed the finish line today, I was very happy. I was glad it was over. We have had a tight series of races and I am very happy that the race in Brazil was rained out.

Question: Max, are you confident that the team will provide you with a car again next year with which you can compete for the title?
Max Verstappen: The team never gives up. We have many talented people, very competent specialists, I enjoy working with them. I know it wasn’t easy for them this year either, they felt a lot of pressure.

It happens that after an incredibly successful season, like last year, when we broke all the records, at some point you suddenly start struggling with the car and don’t understand what is going on. At such a time, it is important to remain calm and try to put things right.

Each person on the team has their own emotions to deal with. In a sense, this is also a management challenge, because everyone reacts slightly differently to good or bad results. But I like it. Each of us has our own character, but we work together to achieve a common goal.

I am proud that we persevered together in those difficult stages where we lost our balance a bit. We came to the base and carefully analyzed everything. When we arrived in Austin, after addressing the issues that arose in Monza, we saw an increase in efficiency and came up with many ideas for the following year. There are some things we couldn’t change this year, but we will change them next year. I hope this makes the car more controllable and more competitive.

I understand that our rivals are not sitting still: next year another big battle awaits us. As I said: even if you are not the fastest, but you consistently achieve high results, a lot is possible.

Question: Mercedes was clearly interested in you during the season, Toto Wolff has spoken about this more than once. Was there a moment when you thought you would leave Red Bull for Mercedes or another team?
Max Verstappen: I think every one of us asks ourselves from time to time: “How long do I want to do this? Where do I want to do this?” There are things in your personal life that affect your career. But that’s okay. In general, I take this very calmly, separating my personal and professional lives. But nothing stops you from thinking about what and where you would like to do.

I am not prone to radical decisions. I’m happy with where I am at the moment. I am very loyal to the team. I appreciate what they did for me: they took me out of Formula 3, gave me a place in Formula 1 and went through all these emotions with me. When difficult times come, on the one hand it is very easy to say goodbye, but I believe it is much more important to go through it together, cope and move on, naturally focusing on the results and enjoying the work. This is the most important thing. If you’re not having fun, there’s no point in continuing.

Q: What are the best and worst moments of this season, not counting today…
Max Verstappen: Most of the best moments happened at the beginning of the season, when we were fast and winning races. At first it seemed that we could repeat the incredibly successful last year. But the most difficult period happened in the middle of the season, when we didn’t have enough speed and didn’t even get on the podium. But we always achieved the best possible results at the time, we always remained in control.

When I look back on this season in about twenty years, the 2024 race in Las Vegas will not be in my top ten, although it is nice to win the championship here. This year we have had enough failures that have taught me a lot: confidence in myself, in the team, in our work. And that’s what I’m proud of: that we managed it and stayed at the top.

Question: Can you call it a psychologically difficult moment when, in addition to the many events off the track, there was some confusion in working with the car? Have you experienced psychological problems?
Max Verstappen: Personally I never think about the psychological side, for me it is not that important. When I get behind the wheel I always try to give everything I can, and when I get home I prefer not to think about racing, but concentrate on something else.

Of course it was disappointing at times, especially after last year’s successes and the successful start of this season. But I understood that this couldn’t go on forever. It is extremely rare for such successes to be repeated two years in a row. But at one point the car was really difficult to drive. And it was important to work with the team to prevent everyone from losing motivation. Such moments are very important, they teach you to control yourself, work even harder and try to understand what is happening. If you give up for even a minute, you won’t win the title.

Q: Was there a point where you thought Lando had a better chance of winning this championship, that he was now the favorite?
Max Verstappen: From Miami our car was no longer the fastest. You can quickly regain 50 or 60 points if you consistently achieve maximum results and avoid stupid mistakes. I experienced this myself when I was 30-40 points behind. I think in ’22. I told myself anything was possible and focused on what I could control, giving it my all every weekend.