Verstappen confident title picture can still change dramatically

Max Verstappen says the way the 2024 Formula 1 season panned out is proof the title race could change dramatically, despite McLaren’s strong start to this year.

Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris by 13 points and Verstappen by 22 after winning four of the first seven races, with Verstappen securing his second victory in Imola last weekend. That performance displayed a step forward from Red Bull, and Verstappen says the way McLaren could put the previously dominant Red Bull under pressure 12 months ago is an example of why the current picture is not necessarily set for the season.

“It’s not about believing, it’s about where you finish in the last race, and we just keep working every race to be better and improve the situation,” Verstappen said. “A lot can happen. If you asked me last year around this time, I’d have said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to win it. No problem.’ But then a lot changed as well.

“It’s not for sure that it’s going to be straightforward to the end of the season. I think we still have to improve in areas, but that’s fine. We’ll try to find the improvements.”

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Verstappen’s win in Imola only increased the belief that he will be a true factor in the title fight alongside the two McLaren drivers, but he also warned that one-off results should not lead to unrealistic expectations each weekend.

“If you take the average of Miami and Imola, I don’t think we look that great. So we have to be calm," he said. "Imola was a very good weekend for us – I say weekend because Friday was not good. We just have to keep understanding our car a bit better, what we want with the setup.

“This is a very different track. If you look at the season so far, we’ve only really been properly competitive in high-speed corners. Monaco is not a high-speed track. I’m a little more reserved for this weekend. Even if you have the best car, to nail it in qualifying around here is very tough.

“We just have to see what happens tomorrow and work from there. I have no idea where we are in the order. Historically, we’ve not been particularly great on street circuits. Hopefully we can change that a bit, but I don’t know.”

Imola was not the first time Red Bull has struggled on a Friday and then been a threat later in the weekend, and Verstappen says the team’s ability to improve the car based on what it sees on track has been impressive this year.

“I wish I knew why the Fridays are not always great. We don’t do it on purpose, I swear!" he said. "But it's been a bit more difficult just to get the car in the right window. I do think we learned quite a bit actually in Imola, what we want from the car. It's not always easy to extract that now on a street circuit compared to Imola, but it was a very useful lesson. It gave me more confidence to push.

“We do a lot of simulator work. Although we have the simulator drivers, we communicate what we want from the car, what we need. Unfortunately, our car over the last year and a half – maybe two years – has probably had quite a narrow window. As soon as you're a little bit left or right, it becomes quite a bit more difficult to drive.

“That probably translates to a poor Friday. But the team is good at analyzing and making the right calls for the next day. So, most of the time, we improve the situation – and in Imola, it improved quite a lot.”