What defending world champion Max Verstappen has in mind for the 2024 Formula 1 season with Red Bull and what impressions he has already gained of the new RB20
Max Verstappen has only failed to win three out of 22 Grands Prix in the 2023 Formula 1 season. Will this already excellent record be surpassed in the 2024 season? At the presentation of the new Red Bull RB20, Verstappen is cautious: “That will be very difficult. But that’s not our goal at all. “
So what are Red Bull and Verstappen’s plans for the year after the record year? Verstappen keeps his head down when he says: “The goal is to have another very competitive car, and I’m trying to do my best from my side. But a lot of different things have to come together for that.”
One factor, of course, is how well the other teams are set up. “The people around us are learning more and more,” says Verstappen.
According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, this can be seen in the Formula 1 cars presented so far by Red Bull’s opponents: “We can see that other cars have been inspired by the RB19. We therefore expect the performance of the teams to converge somewhat.” However, this is “logical” under largely stable technical regulations.
That’s why Verstappen says it’s “not just up to Red Bull” how good a season will be. “Because when you have more natural competition from other teams, it’s even more difficult to win races. “
Horner full of praise for the staff at Red Bull
Horner is already convinced by the new RB20, although the car has only completed one shakedown at Silverstone so far. However, he can already say that his team has done a “wonderful job” because it has “not rested on its laurels”, but has “pushed the limits” with the RB20.
But Horner does not say what this means in concrete terms. He also refrains from saying what Red Bull can achieve in 2024.
Just this much: “Setting ourselves the goal of winning all races is very difficult, even if we could theoretically improve again. But we’ll only see what the relative pecking order looks like at the start of the season when we get to the race track. “
How Verstappen experienced the shakedown
Because Verstappen has only gained limited impressions of the RB20 so far, at least in terms of driving. During the shakedown, “everything was fine”, but nothing more than that
“It was literally just the film day,” explains the three-time Formula 1 world champion. “It’s just about making sure that everything works after the car has been assembled, because that’s basically how the car is sent to Bahrain [for winter testing and the season opener]. And that’s when it really starts, learning more about the car, putting together the right plan and running lots of different programs. “
Simulator? Verstappen wants to get the real impression first
Verstappen is then asked whether he has at least already learned more about the car in the simulator. He answers in the negative: “I haven’t actually driven the full car yet, i.e. with all the [new] parts, because you’re constantly working on the development parts. So I have to do that a bit more intensively first.”
On the other hand, he would much rather “drive the car in real life first, so that I can give more precise feedback for [the work in the] simulator,” says Verstappen. Postscript: “But so far, everyone has been happy with the simulator drives. “
