Max Verstappen claims he knew ‘right away’ he won’t repeat 2023 dominance this season

Max Verstappen claimed that he was aware of the 2024 season being nothing like his stellar campaign last year.

Max Verstappen claims he knew ‘right away’ he won’t repeat 2023 dominance this season

Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Red Bull’s start to the 2024 season made the fans believe that Max Verstappen would showcase a similar performance to the previous season. The Dutchman scored some dominant victories at the beginning of the season. However, the Austrian constructor has already lost out on three races out of the eight total as the team failed to showcase a similar performance to 2023. Verstappen claimed that he was aware of this fact as soon as the season started.

The RB19 ‘rocketship’ enabled Max Verstappen to break multiple records in the 2023 season. The RB20 was thought to take learnings from the previous chassis. However, the 2024 challenger was completely changed as the performance also took a massive hit since the season started. Verstappen claimed that he knew ‘right away’ that this season wouldn’t be anything like the ‘unique’ previous season in F1.

I knew right away that it wouldn't be another year like last season, something like that is quite unique.
Max Verstappen said, as reported by nl.motorsport.com.
YouTube video

Apart from this, the reigning world champion has his priorities of performing well straight. The Dutchman explained that he wasn’t hell-bent on focusing on the points in the drivers’ championship. Verstappen knew the fact that the majority of the season was still pending. Hence, anything can happen in the remaining 16 races of the 2024 season.

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I'm also not thinking too much about the championship standings at the moment with so many races to go.
Max Verstappen added.

Max Verstappen claims ‘consistency’ is the most ‘important’ thing for a championship victory

Max Verstappen’s 2024 season needed to be extremely consistent to secure an early lead. However, one DNF in Australia and two race losses have reduced the gap between the trailing drivers. Hence, the 26-year-old runs the risk of potentially being challenged if not ousted from the top spot down the season. As a result, the reigning world champion will need to work extra hard to ensure the lead early on.

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Verstappen reckoned that consistency was extremely important to win the championship down the season. Charles Leclerc‘s highly consistent finishes in the 2024 season have enabled him a chance to compete for the championship. Hence, the Dutchman reiterated that consistency was necessary if he wanted to score a championship win in the 2024 season.

For the championship, it's mainly about being consistent. That is the most important thing.
Max Verstappen noted.

Red Bull will need to desperately work over the issues that have been quite prevalent in the recent few weeks. The team is no longer in their dominant era as pointed out by multiple people present on the grid. Hence, the coming few races and the summer break will witness the team working over the major issues on the chassis.

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