Max Verstappen and Red Bull blew all their F1 rivals away this year but the likes of Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team are aiming to close the gap in the 2024 season
Max Verstappen has admitted it is very likely that rivals Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris will be much closer to him next year.
The gulf between them was huge throughout the 2023 campaign. Red Bull won all but one of the 22 races held while Verstappen alone was responsible for 19 of the team’s victories as he scored more than double the number of points managed by anyone else.
Statistically, and by every other measure, it was the most dominant season Formula 1 has ever seen. But Verstappen is sure that they will not be repeating the trick next term.
He stated during the season preview program on BBC Radio 5 Live that “the others will improve their cars and get closer to us.” “I don’t think regaining that win rate is all that feasible. However, that’s alright. It’s crazy to have a season like this one already.
“The others aren’t ignorant. Everybody is picking up knowledge. Naturally, things will get closer the longer the regulations remain the same, as people begin to realize which way they need to go with their development. Fortunately, we got started with the regulations [in 2022] very well, but I anticipate that things will move in the right direction next year.
“I don’t know which particular team, because if you look at the whole season it has been a bit up and down for everyone except us, so I don’t really know in the winter which team is going to make the biggest jump. Hopefully, of course, they still stay behind but we’ll see in Bahrain.”
Red Bull’s dominance this year meant they could begin development on their 2024 car much earlier than their rivals. Despite that headstart of several months, though, the fact they are so far ahead means improvements come at a slower rate, as they are closer to the performance ceiling of the current regulations.
Team principal Christian Horner has admitted that he has already noticed much slower development of the RB20. Telling reporters the car will be an “evolution, not revolution” of their all-conquering 2023 car, he said: “All areas have been revisited in the car, and we can’t afford to have any complacency.
“The car is very much an evolution of a theme. We’re not reinventing the wheel, and that has been very much the route of the engineering path over the last 12 months. I’m fully expecting, with stable regs and diminishing returns for us because I think we got to the top of the curve quicker than others, the field is going to converge.
“Every year is a fresh start, and I have no doubt that you’ll witness a lot more vehicles that might have an RB19 aesthetic. In this industry, standing still usually means regressing. We, in my opinion, have risen above that curve more quickly than others. However, the law of diminishing returns applies to us.”
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