Max Verstappen could be beaten week in week out, claims rival
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has claimed that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen could be "beaten" week in and week out. The recently crowned four-time F1 world champion joined the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Michael Schumacher to win four successive world titles.
Heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the 27-year-old just needed to finish ahead of title rival and McLaren driver Lando Norris to take the championship, which he did. Verstappen crossed the chequered flag in P5, a place ahead of Norris, despite the latter's attempt to take an additional point for the fastest lap.
Speaking with the media in a post-race interview, Carlos Sainz praised Max Verstappen for the achievement but believed that the Dutch driver was beatable as showcased by his performances in the second half of the 2024 season. He said (via RacingNews365):
"As much as I think Max has done an incredible job this year, it just shows the second half of the season, eight drivers within a tenth of each other, we could all beat him week in, week out. The second half of the season just shows that when we are all equal, more of an equal machinery, we can all go up against each other and make each other's life difficult."
"It's all about pressure management and not having that margin. Whenever you don't have a two, three-tenths margin on your nearest rival or your teammate, suddenly a pressure ramps up and everyone is human," he added.
Max Verstappen expressed his feelings after winning a "challenging" 2024 campaign
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that the 2024 campaign was very "challenging" given he failed to win a race between late June and early November as rival teams surpassed the RB20 on the track.
As per F1.com, the Dutch driver proclaimed that he enjoyed the dominance of last year more when he won 19 out of the 22 races, including 10 races in a row between Miami and Monza. Here's what he said:
“For sure it was a very challenging season. I think also as a person, at times it’s very challenging. I had to be calm. I think in a way, of course, I still prefer last season; I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season, definitely again taught me a lot of lessons."
"I’m very proud of how we handled it also as a team. So in a way of course that makes it also very, very special, and a beautiful season.” he added.
In 2025, Max Verstappen has an opportunity to join an even more exclusive list of all-time greats if he wins a fifth title, as he would become only the second driver to win in consecutive years while being the fourth driver to it overall.