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Verstappen hugely proud of Red Bull: 'After all those difficult moments...'
Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing experienced many lows in 2024. Although at the beginning of the year, performance on the track was strong, as the season went on with Red Bull losing correlation between their simulation tools and the track, the dominance exhibited during the early part of the season went out the window. The Dutchman now looks back to choose his favourite moment of 2024.
In 2023, Red Bull Racing had the most dominant season in the history of the category. The Austrian racing stable won 21 out of 22 races that year. At the start of the 2024 season, the impressive streak seemed set to continue with Verstappen winning four out of the first five Grands Prix.
Yet shortly after, the Austrians faced difficulties with their simulation tools estimations not correlating with the actual performance they encountered on track. However, with Verstappen's 'inspiring' leadership, as team boss Christian Horner put it recently, Red Bull was able to find its way to winning form at the season's home stretch with the Dutchman going on to win two of the last four races, with a superb Brazilian Grand Prix triumph and his relentless Qatar GP victory.
Verstappen picks favourite 2024 season moment
If the Dutchman has to pick his favourite moment of 2024, he goes for how the Austrian racing stable finally bounced back from the difficult times.
"The start of the year was very nice. But then now, especially looking back at it, having to face the tough moments in that year as well, is something that I'm quite proud of, because it's easy to lose your head and start stressing about everything, But we actually, I think we did very well to keep calm," Verstappen said in a Team Redline livestream .
His victories in 2024 do not rank higher than the way Red Bull reacted as a team to its very complicated middle part of the season. "You can always say wins, blah, blah, they are great. But at one point, I think some things are also more rewarding. It's how we just kept it together as a team."
For many fans, Verstappen's victory in Brazil last year will be a highlight of the 2024 season, with the Dutchman managing to win the race from P17 after a difficult weekend, while at the same time dealing a decisive blow in his title fight against McLaren rival Lando Norris, with Verstappen clinching his fourth consecutive title in Las Vegas.
This article was written in collaboration with Sandy van Wjingaarden.
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