Nov.27 (GMM) Max Verstappen’s fourth consecutive championship triumph in 2024 has also put a spotlight on how it went wrong for his main rival Lando Norris.
Verstappen wrapped up the title with two races to spare, despite no longer sitting in the fastest car in the field. The Dutchman declared in Las Vegas that he would have secured the championship much earlier if he had been in Norris’ McLaren.
When asked if Verstappen is entitled to make a comment like that, Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko told Osterreich: “Yes, because he is certainly right.
“This year, no driver other than Max would have won the world championship for us. He certainly did not have the best car.”
Norris, 24, hit back, declaring that Verstappen would “definitely not” have emerged victorious this season in a McLaren. “No one ever in the history of Formula 1 has come back from the size of deficit I had,” he said.
“No one. Ever. The advantage they had in the beginning of the season over everyone was way more than we’ve had.”
Not everyone agrees with the British driver, including Dutch racer Jeroen Bleekemolen, who told Ziggo Sport that 2024 revealed Norris’ weaknesses.
“When Verstappen was driving for Toro Rosso, he was once ordered to move aside for his teammate Carlos Sainz. He didn’t do that,” he said.
“Norris could have had that attitude more often towards his teammate Oscar Piastri this season. That’s part of it if you want to become world champion.”
Speaking to Le Journal de Montreal, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve puts more of the blame with McLaren – and Piastri’s manager Mark Webber, who he says appears to have negotiated a deal with strict ‘no team orders’ clauses.
“Unfortunately for Lando, McLaren didn’t help him,” said Villeneuve. “It’s as if the team didn’t want him to win the championship. Which is strange,” Villeneuve said.
As for Piastri’s contract, Villeneuve added: “There are terms that protect him that a new driver should never have.”
Bleekemolen agrees: “Decisions were made that I didn’t understand at all, the best example being Hungary when Norris had to step aside for Piastri. They were missing the bigger picture.
“There appeared to be a lot of uncertainty within the team,” he added. “They responded too late to a new situation in which they had the best car. The drivers themselves let it slide at times, but if there had been more clarity from above, that would have helped them enormously.
“McLaren focused for a long time completely on the development of the car, to close the gap in pure speed. They succeeded in that, but not on the operational part. And that becomes painfully visible when you are not driving for places five to ten, but for the title.
“Because the smallest mistake is then punished.”
As for Norris, Bleekemolen says the contrast with Verstappen was made crystal clear in 2024.
“Verstappen is so confident that he never looks at the others,” he said. “Norris looks around a lot more, to see what other drivers are doing.
“He can certainly work on that, but on the other hand, that killer instinct is something that is either in you or not.”