By the end of 2024, Max Verstappen is likely to be a four-time Formula 1 world champion. Despite an exceedingly rare defeat at the Miami Grand Prix, he remains the overwhelming favourite.
Nobody has beaten Verstappen on pure pace yet this season. Carlos Sainz won the Australian GP after he retired with a brake issue, and Lando Norris was reliant on a perfectly-timed safety car for his Miami win.
While McLaren unveiled an ‘astonishing’ upgrade in Miami and Ferrari will respond with a ‘massive’ package of their own in Imola this weekend, Verstappen and Red Bull are still the class of the field until proven otherwise. His pre-season prediction of 12 wins from 24 races may prove broadly accurate.
While the Dutchman had to wait until the final race of the 2021 season to win the title (in bitterly controversial circumstances), he’s enjoyed historic dominance since. Going back to the beginning of 2022, he’s won 38 of the 50 Grands Prix, and picked up 1,165 of the 1,412 available points.
It’s been the most one-sided run the sport has ever seen. And it’s seen Verstappen become the most coveted driver on the grid.
With Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari for 2025, Mercedes are desperate to sign the 26-year-old as his replacement. And the lingering uncertainty over his future may be holding up the entire driver market.
Martin Brundle would pair Max Verstappen with Adrian Newey in F1 team
Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Martin Brundle said signing Verstappen would be a must if he was to set up his own team. However, he believes Adrian Newey is even more important.
Chief technical officer Newey is perhaps the most revered designer in F1 history. He’s won a combined 25 titles across three decades at Williams, McLaren and now Red Bull.
Newey, of course, has just resigned from his role with the reigning champions. He’s due to officially leave in February 2025.
Brundle said: “Adrian Newey [is more important than the driver]. There’s two people you’d have to have for Brundle GP. That’d be Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey. Red Bull have got them both but they’ve just lost one.”
Is Adrian Newey going to Mercedes?
Mercedes may hope to realise Brundle’s vision for the perfect F1 team. In conjunction with their pursuit of Verstappen, they’re also looking into a move for Newey.
Team principal Toto Wolff initially gave him the ‘cold shoulder’. That may be because he feared causing internal unrest if he signed a figure whose working methods have caused some disquiet at Red Bull.
However, Wolff now appears to have changed his mind and is tentatively approaching Newey over a move to Brackley. It’s unclear whether this will come too late to stop him joining Ferrari.
The Austrian was seen in talks with the 65-year-old in the Miami GP paddock, but predictably refused to disclose details of their conversation. He’ll have to overcome Newey’s reservations if he’s to pull off a spectacular coup.
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