Max Verstappen

According to Hamilton, RedBull hadn't touch the car since August..........quite daunting really if what he says is true about the RB19.

Honda i.e. RedBull-Ford says that the 2024 will be even more powerful than the 2023.
It's highly possible we may see a repeat of 2023.

 

Given the fact that Checo is an outstanding driver, very sympathetic to the equipment, and a smart tactical driver, it puts into perspective how imperious Max is as a racing driver. When you compare Max’s list of achievements for 2023 and then Checo’s season in the same car, it’s really quite remarkable.

 

That was a near-perfect season for him, not sure if it can get any better for any driver in the next few decades.

 

The British National Anthem has been played every year since Mike Hawthorn won in 1953 by a driver or a team.

Max and RedBull shut that down in 2023....70 years later.

 

How about not one retirement and scoring paints in every single race in a season. Red Bull is writing the book on reliabililty, strategy and pit lane execution. Max is unworldly precise every single lap- something to behold. It makes for boring races if you favor a different team but I salute his talent.Che pilota!

 

We may have been witnessing a season never to be repeated.

 

With minimal development they, RedBull won all but 1. Next year other teams will need to find .7 to equal and .3 or more to pass and keep the lead.
RedBull will refine this car and could win them all. Mostly Max as Checo is the epitome of inconsistency lol. People think Sainz is bad????

 

Newey said to sky they will change their aero concept because RB19´s one is considered by him as limited right now..
Frightening isn’t it ?
One can only hope for a mistake.

 

As a fan of Max and Red Bull I'm genuinely interested in seeing what Newey has dreamed up for 2024. Certainly over the last few weeks the rumours of something special in the works have been doing the rounds and at no point has Red Bull gone against what's being said, if anything they pretty much confirmed the rumours themselves too.

But as an F1 fan I desperately hope Ferrari or Mclaren will challenge.

 

I have the same feeling. I am a little bit cautious however also. MB came with a revolution in 2022.... We all know how that turned out.
I think these rumours are what they are, rumours. I would be highly surprises if RB would deviate much, if any, from the path chosen to build the RB19. Why would they? Honestly, I think even without any development they still could ending up being the 2024 WDC/WCC.

 

Unless one is building a good functional clone of RB19, the odds are not in favor of a major challenge next year. Max rarely fully employed the total package for a good length of time. Also MaxBull is utterly reliable for a modern F1 car.

Of course other major teams are smart and started early to develop. I hope for a good surprise and not from any team. Just a good challenge to keep interest and intrigue lol!

 

I'm not so worried; Newey was quite open how little time he actually spend on the RB18/19, he was actually worried the RB18 would either do ''just fine'' or pretty badly considering how little time he had to develop it. Then came the ATR penalty but with Merc/Ferrari doubling down on their failed concepts this made it possible for Newey to just bring out one update moderate update for the year (after shedding the overweight the RB18 carried) and focus on the RB20.

From 2009 RB have been top dogs in the aerodynamic department. IMO the greatest strength of the RB18/19 has been the suspension which allows for a stable aerodynamic platform, it's just the RB18/19 aerodynamic ceiling is quite limited (which I guess was Newey's worry).

 

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/39004334/the-mind-blowing-stats-underline-verstappen-dominance

Points

The record: Max Verstappen scored 575 of the 620 points on offer in 2023 -- another new record that eclipses the 454 points he scored last year and the previous record of 413 held by Lewis Hamilton from 2019.

The context: Given the changes to the points system over the years and the growing calendar (including the addition of points-scoring sprint races) the number "575" doesn't mean a huge amount. However, when you consider Verstappen scored 92.74% of the points on offer, it helps to underline the level of his dominance in a historical context.

What's more, Verstappen scored over double the points of teammate Sergio Pérez (284), who finished second in the drivers' championship, and 166 more than the Mercedes team as a whole, which finished second to Red Bull in the constructors' championship. Added to that, Verstappen's tally at the Belgian Grand Prix in July (before F1's summer break) would have been enough to secure this year's title.

Largest and average winning margin

The statistic: Verstappen's largest winning margin of the year came at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished 33.731 seconds clear of Lando Norris in second place. His average winning margin across his 19 wins (minus the Australian and Dutch Grands Prix where late red flags cut his advantage) was 13.363 seconds. Neither are records, but the stat still says a lot about his dominance.

The context: Verstappen won six races by over 15 seconds this year and there were only eight occasions when he won by less than 10 seconds. In most cases, however, he wasn't under threat and therefore could choose to extend or shorten the gap at his leisure -- and often depending on whether his race engineer felt a late safety car might put his win in jeopardy.

The truth is that we will never know exactly how big the average gap to second place could have been had Verstappen pushed to the max every race, but you can guarantee it would be a good deal higher than 13.363s.

 

Hence Sir Max Verstappen

 

Actually hence - Horner downplaying what might happen next year. Its worse than most feel or are willing to admit. Anyone thinking they can find .7 or more to equal MaxBull and another .3 or more to pass him and keep the lead is dreaming. Between August when most teams pulled the plug on further development and testing soon, one needs a miracle. 25 might be a touch different as major development of a 25 car vs the new regs 26 car is an easy situation. You dont waste time on the 25 platform after race 5. The focus will be 2026.

 

Apart from Max Verstappen's absolute domination, these huge gaps could also be attributed to the present scoring system giving a large advantage to the winner (7 points ahead of the runner-up) compared to the other positions. Only 3 points between 2nd and 3rd, or 3rd and 4th, then only 2 points difference up to 9th.

 

For me the time Max didn’t need to use to keep a safe gap is critical. Time = to speed or energy not needed to win. RedBull are banking time. Quite impressive !

 

Right, the points do not decrease linearly down the rankings. I made a similar point when explaining why Leclerc and Sainz presented as more evenly matched earlier this season when the car was terrible over the first half.

 

The queen has also passed....coincidence?

sjd

 

not bad. just 5th.

 

I watched most of this interview with Alex Albon and he talks a bit about being a teammate to Max Verstappen. He sort of said it's a myth that Red Bull designs the car and runs the team around Max. But then he kind of says they do. He was talking about he, as a driver wants a car with a sharp front end (as does most drivers), but he says Verstappen wants a front end so sharp its "eye watering". He compares it to a computer mouse with the sensitivity turned to the max. It makes the car unsettling to drive and he doesn't understand how Max can drive a car like that so well. He goes on to say as the car gets a sharper and sharper front end, the gap between him and Max would grow. This suggests the development does steer towards Max.

I'm obviously paraphrasing a bunch, but it was interesting to hear his take.

 

How does Hamilton know such details about another team ?

Info fed by FIA Wolff ?

 

If people on Fchat can tell you Merc is cheating.for this and that. Surely a F1 driver would know about another team.

 

People involved in F1 (mechanics, engineers, drivers, etc ..) speak to each other.
They move from one team to another, so it's not surprising that information is quickly spread.

 

So you think the tire changers and such know the details of cost cap financials within the team?