The underappreciated ingredient of Verstappen’s 2024 F1 title run

Lando Norris provided a special tackle Max Verstappen’s 2024 title victory as System 1 rocked up in Qatar: that Sergio Perez’s poor performances have truly made issues tougher for the Dutchman.

Verstappen made headlines for saying after final weekend’s title-clinching race in Las Vegas that he would have secured his fourth successive world title “even earlier” had he been driving a McLaren or Ferrari, round Crimson Bull’s RB20 going off the boil after beginning the yr as clearly F1’s greatest automobile.

However whereas Verstappen’s 4 wins from the opening six races meant he had a 53-point lead over Norris by the point McLaren received on prime of its MCL38 challenger, one ingredient that appeared to work significantly in Verstappen’s favour after the pecking order at F1’s head converged is how he had no opposition from inside Crimson Bull.

For Norris at McLaren and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, each of Verstappen’s closest two challengers within the 2024 title battle have misplaced vital factors due to their respective intense challenges from team-mates Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz.

Norris misplaced the lead in Hungary with Piastri’s first nook assault earlier than that race exploded with McLaren’s crew orders farrago, whereas the pair’s lap one battle at Monza opened the door for eventual winner there, Leclerc, who himself has endured 5 cases (Bahrain, China, Spain, Austin and Las Vegas) the place Sainz has fought him savagely.

However when Autosport/Motorsport.com pointed this out to Norris within the Qatar GP paddock forward of this weekend’s penultimate occasion of the 2024 season, the Briton highlighted as a substitute how this might truly work towards Verstappen.

“I imply, there’s professionals and cons,” he replied. “There’s professionals in that he has to do all of his work on his personal, which is hats off to him.

“He would not have somebody who’s pushing him, he would not have somebody making an attempt different issues with the automobile – you’ll be able to’t do A-B exams and issues like that as a result of the information isn’t as beneficial when you do not have somebody who’s performing on the identical degree.

“There’s quite a lot of issues that Max can do which are phenomenal – driving on the degree he does persistently and not using a team-mate that may push him in any method, [it] definitely makes his life tougher from that perspective. Additionally from a crew perspective.

“However, on the identical time, yeah, there isn’t any strain. He would not should beat anybody in his personal crew and that comes with some consolation.

“However they go collectively. Typically and in some methods, I like having a little bit of strain as a result of it makes me do a barely higher job.”

However, given how the impression of intra-team battling at McLaren and Ferrari can’t be denied inside the story of Verstappen’s profitable 2024 title hunt, Norris intriguingly added that “I hope sooner or later he has one that may problem him a bit extra”.

As Leclerc did earlier on Thursday on the Losail circuit, Norris additionally rebuffed Verstappen’s suggestion about doing higher with both an MCL38 or SF-24 reasonably than an RB20 in 2024 – albeit with a big dollop of fine humour.

“He ought to begin doing comedy or one thing,” Norris joked when Autosport/Motorsport.com put Verstappen’s phrases to him.

“He can say no matter he needs. After all, I utterly disagree, as I’d. He is good, however… It isn’t true.”