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

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

Verstappen won his fourth straight crown with two races to spare with a disciplined fifth in Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, knocking nearest rival Lando Norris out of contention.

The Dutchman started the year with a dominant Red Bull RB20, but saw McLaren take a huge leap forward in May, while Red Bull’s own campaign began to stutter. Ferrari also changed up front, as did Mercedes at times.

But with Verstappen claiming he didn’t have the fastest machine for 70 per cent of the campaign, he is confident he would have won it too driving the cars of his nearest rivals.

When asked if he could have won the title with McLaren, he replied: “Yes, even earlier, so (I would have been) further ahead. (With Ferrari), pretty much the same, I think. The Mercedes, no. I think it would have been more difficult.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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

“You know, things like that only motivate me. When people are critical or think I can only win in the best car, I want to prove them wrong,” he said. “If I don’t get (that credit) now, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

In fairness to Brown, these comments were made just after Norris’ maiden win at May’s Miami Grand Prix, where Verstappen had won four of the first six races and the depth of the RB20’s faults had yet to fully emerge over time.

Brown’s claims that six or seven drivers could win the title with Red Bull also didn’t look nearly as outlandish then as they would today.

Asked whether anyone else could have won the 2024 title at Red Bull, Verstappen said: “Well, we’re the right place for that question here in Vegas, because you can bet!

“All I can say is I wish them the best of luck with that…”