Why Verstappen is ‘frightening’ for F1 rivals

Max Verstappen’s Red Bull race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has explained why the Dutchman “must be frightening” for the rest of the F1 paddock.

The 44-year-old claimed that his driver is a “beast” due to his ability to keep pushing his peak past its current point.

After easing to the F1 drivers’ title in 2022 and 2023, the past campaign was a considerably more difficult affair for Verstappen and Red Bull, with a third-consecutive constructors’ championship proving to be a bridge too far, despite the 27-year-old wrapping up the drivers’ crown.

Verstappen had to find another gear in 2024 in order to consistently score points. Despite the struggles Red Bull faced, he was able to maximise on weekends when the RB20 was uncompetitive.

He did not finish lower than sixth place all season, as he managed the points gap he grew early in the year. Even though he went 10 rounds without a grand prix victory, Lando Norris was only able to reduce his advantage from 69 points to 62 over that span.

Fernando Alonso underlined that as a key to his title win, and it represents an evolution in the 63-time grand prix winner’s approach to racing, something that has allowed him to reach a higher level.

“I think this is the problem for the other drivers about Max, is he is a beast that just keeps improving year on year,” Lambiase said to Viaplay. “Just when you think he’s reached his peak, he makes another step.

“And that must be frightening for everybody up and down the grid.”

The increasing strength of McLaren and Ferrari – and Mercedes – has contributed to many contending that 2024 is Verstappen’s most impressive championship, with Red Bull’s fall to third punctuating that point.

However, to Lambiase, it does not quite have the edge on his first title, when the season went down to the wire in 2021 against Lewis Hamilton in an all-time titanic F1 championship fight.

“I won’t say it was quite as hard as 2021, that was an incredibly intense year,” he said. “But it came very close, and it required a lot of dedication, commitment from the whole team, from Max.”