Damon Hill has issued Max Verstappen a ‘difficult’ warning given the position the Red Bull driver now finds himself in as he bids to be a four-time consecutive F1 champion.
The 26-year-old has dominated Formula 1 in recent years to lift back-to-back-to-back titles. But after having it mostly all his own way last season, Verstappen now finds himself in a duel over the crown. McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes have all proven they can fight with Red Bull.
Largely thanks to Verstappen winning 19 of the 22 Grand Prix last year, Red Bull nearly had a perfect season. Only Carlos Sainz at the Singapore GP denied the team from Milton Keynes a 100% record. Yet Ferrari and McLaren have already taken wins away from Red Bull in 2024.
Damon Hill warns Max Verstappen his rivals will make the 2024 title fight ‘difficult’
Verstappen remains the standard bearer in 2024 after dominating the early rounds to create a strong advantage. The Dutchman kicked his season off with four wins in the first five races, plus the F1 Sprint at the Chinese GP. He also has seven pole positions from the first 10 races.
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But with McLaren with Lando Norris, Ferrari with Charles Leclerc and the Mercedes duo also now in the mix, Hill believes Verstappen has fallen into a ‘difficult’ place to defend his title in 2024. And when his rivals start taking points away from the Dutchman, it will only be harder.
Hill told Sky Sports F1 (23/6, 13:00): “Anything that takes away from Max just pilling on more points is going to make it more difficult to win the championship. He needs to be able to keep that reasonably good points advantage.
“But the moment you don’t start winning, the moment that you start coming third and fourth, then suddenly your points advantage is going evaporate. And he’s in that position now where he’s got people threatening to take away the maximum points haul.”
The 2024 title fight will test Max Verstappen as a wheel-to-wheel fighter
Having a genuine fight for victory most weeks will also be a test of the driver Verstappen has become whilst dominating F1. He regularly made contact with Lewis Hamilton over the 2021 season while fighting for the Dutchman’s first title. But he has not had a real challenge since.
When Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole position at the 2023 Las Vegas GP, Verstappen failed to show he had learned from his incidents with Hamilton in 2021, either. Much like at the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP and Spanish GP when he pushed the Briton wide, he did so with Leclerc.
The stewards slapped Verstappen with a five-second time penalty for forcing Leclerc off the track at the Las Vegas GP. He simply refused to accept second place in Sin City so drove the pair off. Now, having more rivals in the mix will test Verstappen as a wheel-to-wheel fighter.
The post ‘He’s in that position now’: Damon Hill fires Red Bull star Max Verstappen ‘difficult’ warning appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
