Verstappen claims he would have won 2024 title with McLaren or Ferrari

Max Verstappen is convinced he would have won the 2024 Formula 1 world title if he had been driving for McLaren or Ferrari instead of Red Bull.

Verstappen clinched his fourth consecutive F1 crown with two races to spare in Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking nearest rival Lando Norris out of contention with a disciplined fifth place.

The Dutchman started the year with a dominant Red Bull RB20, but then saw McLaren take a giant leap forward in May while Red Bull’s own campaign started stuttering. Ferrari also took turns at the front, as did Mercedes on occasion.

But with Verstappen asserting that for 70 percent of the campaign he didn’t have the fastest machine, he is convinced he would have won it driving his closest rivals’ cars too.

When asked if he could have won the title with McLaren, he replied: “Yes, even earlier, so [I would have been] further ahead. [With the Ferrari], pretty much the same I think.

“The Mercedes, no. I think that would have been trickier.”

Verstappen also commented on him confronting Zak Brown on Sky Sports with the McLaren CEO’s comments that he could only win the title in the dominant Red Bull, when the American came over to congratulate him.

“Things like that only motivate me; when people are critical or think I can only win in the best car, I will prove them wrong,” he said.

World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“If I don’t get [that credit] now, then I don’t know what I to do.”

Brown’s comments were made right after Norris’ maiden win in May’s Miami Grand Prix, when Verstappen had won four of the first six races and the depth of the RB20’s flaws had yet to fully emerge over time.

Brown’s claims that six or seven drivers could win the title in that Red Bull also looked nowhere near as outlandish then as they would have done today.