Former F1 team boss claims rivals have ‘no chance’ to catch Max Verstappen and Red Bull in 2024

Eddie Jordan reckons that Red Bull will carry its pace advantage to the 2024 F1 season.

Former F1 team boss claims rivals have ‘no chance’ to catch Max Verstappen and Red Bull in 2024

Max Verstappen on the Las Vegas GP podium (Via IMAGO)

Red Bull dominated the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Austrian team was miles ahead of its competition the entire year. Max Verstappen won a record-breaking nineteen races behind the wheel of the RB-19. Subsequently, fans hope to see a closer fight in the upcoming season. However, former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan has dismissed such a possibility.

Jordan was asked by ex-F1 driver David Coulthard, whether rivals such as Mercedes and Ferrari could potentially get closer and perhaps even beat Red Bull in 2024. The Irishman gave a swift answer, making it clear that this would not be the case. Eddie Jordan praised Red Bull Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey for his brilliant work on the RB-19 this season.

No. No chance, simple.
Eddie Jordan said on the Formula for Success podcast (H&T: PlanetF1)

The 75-year-old revealed that Newey, who is also his cycling companion, stayed back at the factory during the season finale in Abu Dhabi. The Red Bull aero genius told Eddie Jordan that he needed to place the last pieces for the 2024 challenger. Certainly, this could allow Max Verstappen and the Austrian team to further increase its advantage this year.

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My cycling mate is none other than Adrian Newey, and he told me he was just staying behind, he didn’t do the race in Abu Dhabi, because he had the last little pieces to put together of the puzzle for next year’s Red Bull car.

Eddie Jordan reckons Red Bull had a six-month lead time for 2024

Red Bull had a massive pace advantage over the competition at the start of the 2023 season. This forced teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari to go back to the drawing board. Both teams made significant changes in their car design to get closer to Milton Keynes. On the other hand, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez went on to win 21 out of the 22 races of the season.

Adrian Newey and Christian Horner
Adrian Newey and Christian Horner (Via IMAGO)

Eddie Jordan believes that while other teams spent months developing their 2023 cars to get closer to the front, Red Bull would’ve utilized this period to work on its next year’s machinery instead. This would allow the Austrian team to potentially have a six-month lead compared to the rest of the competition.

 In my opinion, [Red Bull has] five or six months lead time on that car for next year. I don’t see anyone coming close to them.

Max Verstappen could once again find himself in a great spot at the start of the 2024 season. The Dutch driver remains the favorite for this year’s championship. As such, if Red Bull has managed to gain a lead in the development period over its rivals, it is likely that Verstappen would have a comfortable lead at the start of his campaign.

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