Max Verstappen has been unstoppable in the last couple of seasons. The Dutch driver has won 34 Grands Prix in two seasons. How much further dominating an F1 driver can get? Perhaps Max can answer that this year in the upcoming season. Like in 2023, Max broke his own record of an impressive 15 race wins in the 2022 season. He went on to win 19 GPs in a sheer dominating style. Red Bull won 21 races overall. Hence, Sergio Perez won only two races. But there was one Grand Prix where Red Bull could not finish at the top, and that was in Singapore.
Three teams – Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes had a tough fight for the P1 finish. However, in the end, it was Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari who clinched the top spot in the Singaporean Grand Prix. Hence, fans and experts wonder if the Spanish driver would be the biggest threat to Max Verstappen in 2024. But there are two impressive youngsters – McLaren’s Lando Norris and another Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, who can challenge Max for the title. However, the Red Bull advisor thinks it will be the seven-time champion who’ll be the biggest challenge for Verstappen.
Why Helmut Marko Thinks Only Lewis Hamilton Can Challenge Max Verstappen For The Title?
Helmut Marko believes if any driver can challenge the current triple-time champion, then it is the Mercedes superstar. He said the path is clear for Lewis Hamilton to be Max Verstappen’s biggest rival again. Recently, in an interview with F1 Insider, the 80-year-old Red Bull chief said both Leclerc and Norris are exceptional drivers, but they possess the same weakness. Marko believes it will be impossible for Leclerc and Norris to beat Verstappen because both had problems with consistency in the last few seasons. In 2022, Charles Leclerc was the top challenger for Max Verstappen in the first few races, but then his purple patch faded away.
As a result, Verstappen won an unbelievable at that point, 15 races that year. Moreover, Helmut Marko said that Max Verstappen is yet to reach his limit, and he’ll keep getting better. All Red Bull needs to do is to keep providing him with a similar superior car like last year, and then the Dutch driver can be a benchmark again. If Mercedes can provide Lewis Hamilton with the right car with the right concept, then Hamilton might teach the young guns something about consistency. Till then, it seems like another Max Verstappen show waiting to begin this year.
Eddie Jordan Says Max Is A Mixture Of Schumacher And Senna
Recently, Eddie Jordan was speaking with F1 Insider, too, when he questioned the abilities of the old horses to challenge Max Verstappen, given their advanced age. Both Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had a more or less impressive outing last year. But they were no match for the current three-time champion. Jordan remembered when Michael Schumacher realized that he’ll be the biggest threat to Ayrton Senna’s title hopes.
The German great even thought that the stopwatch was crazy because he was so fast straight away. Similarly, Jordan thinks Max Verstappen is right there between the greatness of Senna and Schumacher. Adding to that, Jordan said he no longer trusts the old horses. If he had to team up a pair, and it can’t be someone alongside Max, then Jordan thinks he’ll pick Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. That pair might be able to take the fight on with the Dutch sensation.
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